


Room for Monsters

by KitsunePhantom09



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Body Horror, Cannibalism, F/M, M/M, No Signers/Dark Signers, Tags will be updated as the story progresses, Vore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24918154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitsunePhantom09/pseuds/KitsunePhantom09
Summary: They say monsters are made and chosen, but never born. This is proven untrue.There is something lurking just beyond the horizon. It has waited for centuries - what's a few more months?
Comments: 35
Kudos: 9





	1. Taste for Blood / Touch of Guilt

**Author's Note:**

> Me: I should work on Sekta
> 
> Me: I could post something for the Omegaverse I've been working on
> 
> Also Me: ...nah let's explore the consequences of eating people
> 
> And I wonder why I haven't finish anything.
> 
> Anyway, here you go, plus a second warning of "cannibalism" and also dark stuff in general. Chapters will be of various lengths and intensities, hope it's not too jarring.

“You can’t be serious!”

Yusei stirred from sleep, forcing one of his eyes open. The door was ajar, as it usually was. Candlelight slipped in, flickering in time with the sounds of movement. Crow had shouted, and someone hissed at him to be quiet.

“I’m completely serious,” said another – Kiryu, the leader of their ragtag band. “Everything else has failed. We’re out of options, and he’s almost out of time.” Yusei closed his eyes with a grimace; it wasn’t anyone’s fault – Yusei just... He couldn’t keep anything down.

“So, what,” Jack scoffed, “you’d kill people to keep Yusei alive?” There was an odd emphasis on his name, but Yusei was much more concerned about why murder was in the equation at all.

“I’d kill people to keep any of you alive,” Kiryu snapped. “Yusei’s not the exception.” There was a pause, then Kiryu continued, softer. “Guys, he’s dying. He’s wasting away in there; we have to do _something_.”

“Human flesh is a bit extreme, isn’t it?” _What._

“If you’ve got another idea, we’re all ears.”

“Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.” Crow was back in the conversation, and he sounded so sad and tired that it made Yusei’s heart ache. “If we don’t try this, or if we do and it doesn’t work, he starves. If it does work, we’ll have to tell him. And we can all agree on how this would go over with him.”

“…could you kill him?” Kiryu asked suddenly.

“What?”

Kiryu’s voice wavered. “I can’t see him suffer like this. Starvation is slow, and painful, and he doesn’t deserve that.” The light flickered. “But I don’t think I could end it for him, even to spare him the misery. Crow?”

“No. No, no, fuck no.”

“Jack?”

Silence.

Yusei was shaking. While his friends’ loyalty was something to behold, for them to take things this far was unthinkable. Murder was a terrible thing to do, if even it was easy to get away with in Satellite, but cannibalism was heinous. The moment Security got the faintest clue of it, the four of them would face execution.

Yusei heard footsteps, and shadows passed in front of the light. They were approaching, and he could feel the heaviness in the air. They hated this about as much as Yusei did, but they were set on not letting Yusei die. To be fair, he didn’t want to die. But to have other people die instead wasn’t something he could allow to happen.

The door was pushed open gently, and Kiryu entered as Crow and Jack hung back, watching from the threshold. Panic swelled in Yusei’s chest, and he feigned sleep. “Yusei?” Kiryu pressed against his shoulders. “Yusei, wake up.”

He responded with an uncommitted noise, but his heart was pounding – he could already smell the blood. “C’mon, Yusei. I’ve got something for you.” Yusei moved slowly, equal parts because of dread, and because of his lack of strength, until he was sitting upright. Even in such faint light, the slice of flesh gleamed red. Yusei didn’t even feel sick; probably because there was nothing to bring up.

“What is it?” The suspicion came across in his voice, and Kiryu visibly faltered. Beyond the door, Yusei could hear the back and forth of “He knows” and “He doesn’t know” between Crow and Jack.

“The only thing we have left,” was Kiryu’s answer. Yusei heard was he assumed was a facepalm, and Jack growled something like “Well, _now_ he knows”.

Would Kiryu force it, Yusei wondered. If he tried to refuse, would Kiryu try to force him to eat it? For a second, Yusei stared, debating on whether the chance at survival was worth… _this_. Slowly, Yusei relented, leaning forward and opening his mouth. He tried to shut his brain off, tried not to think about where this might have come from. As he took the piece into his mouth, his brain did shut off – what was that flavor?

It didn’t taste like iron or copper, like Yusei expected it to. It was beyond the words he had, so he had to settle for stunned silence to express it. Hesitantly, he swallowed it, and waited. His stomach had become so sensitive, it could reject things after only a few minutes, but it didn’t. Instead of seizing up in rejection, his stomach roared for more. Yusei had never felt more ravenous.

Kiryu huffed a faint laugh at the noise. “It worked,” he murmured. “It actually worked.” Jack and Crow were going back and forth again, but Yusei couldn’t hear them. He noticed something very alarming on Kiryu’s right arm, his bicep.

Makeshift bandages.

Had…had Kiryu cut into himself for this? Yusei’s mind, demanded to feel nausea at the discovery, but his stomach had already turned traitor. It growled instead, as though the prospect of a fresh open wound was an _invitation_.

Yusei hated it. All of it.

His strength was coming back, and he was regaining body mass, but the cost was steep. Yusei heard the muffled screams of Kiryu’s captives as he carved into them for their meat. That process was doing things to Kiryu; he wasn’t so reluctant to do it anymore. He was relishing in it, having fun with it.

There’d been a change in Jack and Crow, too. They were much more quiet than they used to be, than they’d ever been as long as Yusei had known them. Whenever he tried to talk to Jack, he was defensive, like he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Crow flinched every time he came into his field of view. Even Kiryu seemed to stiffen when he got close.

They were afraid of Yusei.

They were afraid that his newly acquired taste for human flesh meant they were somewhere on the menu. They were afraid that if he got hungry enough, he’d turn on them. Maybe they were even afraid of him eating them alive, letting them suffer as he ripped them apart, piece by agonizing piece. He couldn’t blame them, let alone hate them, for being so scared.

He was scared, too. Scared that, perhaps, he _would_ try to eat them if he got hungry enough. How many times had he caught himself staring when they stretched, revealing skin? How many times had they caught that stare? How predatory had he looked? It wasn’t rocket science to know why they were so apprehensive, but it was beyond confusing on why they stayed. They were scared of him; shouldn’t they have left him? Not that Yusei wanted them to leave, but leaving would mean they would be safe from him.

That was it. His answer.

They were staying in harm’s way to protect everyone else from him.

It made so much more sense now. They were monitoring his behavior, making sure he wasn’t going into some sort of feral feeding frenzy. Were people being sacrificed for it? Yes, but how many lives were being spared in exchange? What if Yusei had some kind of spike in hunger and lost control of himself while he was alone? How many people would he murder and devour before he returned to his senses? They needed to be there, regardless of if they were afraid. They had the entirety of Satellite to protect from him.

He didn't deserve them.


	2. Traitorous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out rock bottom has a basement.

“He’s gone.”

Crow said it so softly Kiryu didn’t catch it, but Yusei did. He turned to the redhead anyway and asked, “What?” Since Yusei had been louder, Kiryu perked up.

“Jack’s gone,” Crow said. Kiryu, after a moment’s pause, got to his feet and started looking around. Crow just stood still, like he couldn’t comprehend his own realization, and Yusei felt his heart sink when he heard Kiryu swear.

Their leader came back furious. “He deserted us!” Kiryu yelled. “He just up and vanished!”

“But, why?” Yusei asked. “Why leave now?”

Crow’s eyes flickered to Yusei for the briefest moment, and Yusei felt his heart go even lower. “He wouldn’t...” Yusei whispered. “He wouldn’t...right?”

“Wouldn’t what?” Kiryu growled. “Apparently he’s not as loyal-” He stopped mid-sentence as something clicked in his mind, and he slowly turned to Crow. “He’s going to Sector Security.” Crow looked up as Kiryu advanced on him. “That’s where he’s going, isn’t he?”

“Kiryu…?” Yusei started moving too.

His pale-haired friend focused on Crow, who was starting to walk backwards, away from him. “He’s going to rat Yusei out.” Crow’s back hit the wall. “And you knew.”

Crow shook his head. “No...”

Kiryu was close enough that he slammed his arms on the wall, on either side of Crow. “Kiryu, stop!” Yusei latched onto him, but he wouldn’t budge.

“You knew he was going to leave!”

“Stop!”

“You knew and you didn’t stop him!”

“Kiryu, stop, please!”

“I bet,” Kiryu started, softer but still livid, “I bet you let him go because you can’t do it yourself.”

“Kiryu-”

“ _Fine!_ ” Crow snarled. “You want the truth? Yes, I knew! You’ve become a murderer and Yusei’s turned into a monster! Someone has to put an end to this – this madness – and the best group to do that is Security!”

Kiryu shook Yusei off his arm, and that was the last external thing Yusei registered. _A monster?_ It felt like his blood was freezing in his veins. Yusei didn’t choose to be like this, to need human flesh. Crow knew that. Didn’t he and Jack agree to it? Agree to do what it took to help Yusei survive?

If Crow’s reasoning was Jack’s too, then really, Yusei understood. They couldn’t handle it anymore. How guilty did they feel to stand back as random people were pulled off the streets to be butchered and consumed? How afraid were they of saying anything against it, of recanting their choice?

How afraid were they of being killed and eaten themselves?

Yusei understood. He’d been so selfish he hadn’t noticed their growing fears. If they thought turning him over to Sector Security, the one group they all hated with a burning passion, was the better option, he wouldn’t fight it.

But Kiryu didn’t have to go down with him. He was only doing it to keep Yusei fed, after all. If Yusei wasn’t there, Kiryu would stop killing; he wouldn’t have a reason to keep going. Yusei would save Kiryu by turning himself in and making it seem like he did it all.

Kiryu didn’t have to go down, too.

Yusei had been too late.

Crow and Jack had been more coordinated in this than he had realized. Crow was the lure, meant to bring both Yusei and Kiryu out into an ambush. Enrage Kiryu and hope Yusei would follow him, but Yusei hadn’t followed. Now, Sector Security was swarming their hideout and Kiryu was shrieking at him to run.

Against his better judgment, against what he really wanted to do, Yusei obeyed. He turned and fled the hideout. Up a couple flights of stairs, shoving a couple heavy pieces of debris behind him as he went, and onto the roof. He easily leaped across the gap to the neighboring building, continuing to jump from building roof to building roof until one gave way under him.

Yusei tucked and rolled into the landing, saving himself from major injury. He scanned the room quickly, spying a broken window with railing beyond it. Out through the window and onto the fire escape, Yusei could still hear the noise of Sector Security hunting for him. Yusei made his way down the rusted stairs, down to ground level, and kept running.

He ran long after he stopped hearing Sector Security, ran until just after sunset. He’d have run longer if his legs hadn’t given out under him. He gulped down air to his burning lungs, trying desperately to figure where he’d ended up. The darkness wasn’t helping, but if Yusei remembered their territory correctly, he should still be in it.

When his legs had recovered enough, Yusei forced himself back to his feet to find somewhere to hide for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Yusei, I swear


	3. Divine Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You'll follow anyone who makes you feel like less of a failure."
> 
> Hope is a powerful thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter that's not spliced together weirdly. Yay!

Ever since the day Kiryu was taken, Yusei had been on the run. Turns out, Sector Security could be competent and merciless when they wanted to be. What made things worse was when Yusei was occasionally confronted with a Security officer by their lonesome. There was no other source of food for Yusei, so he…he did what he had to. Kiryu went through so much to keep him alive, and Yusei didn’t want it all to have been in vain.

Sector Security found him to be so dangerous that they were sending new people with guns – actual and rather large guns – to just kill him and be done with it. “Dead or Alive” was long gone. And of course, the word had gotten around about a terrible monster roaming Satellite, looking to feast on the unwary. Those officers, the ones by themselves, were Yusei’s only source of food now. Everyone else was either too dangerous or too hypervigilant, or both.

But those officers were few and far between, and getting scarcer everyday. Yusei was hungry, so hungry, that he’d tried eating whatever else he could get a hold of. It went was well as one would expect, which is to say, Yusei still couldn’t eat anything aside from human flesh.

Some days, Yusei could do little but curl up in a ball, feeling his own guilt and remorse gnawing and clawing at him. Sometimes it drove him to tears; ugly, strangled sobs as his soul cracked under the burden. Other times, though, that pressure would come down on him and something inside him would rise up in defiance. Something blisteringly hot and infinitely furious would brace itself under the weight, snarling and swearing at his plight.

That same thing was what drove him on, kept pushing him to survive because he’d come this far, hadn’t he? The world was against him, but when had it ever been on his side? He hadn’t asked for this, but if the world was set on being his enemy, then he would fight. Just like he always had.

But, some days…

Some days, he was like a ghost, drifting from place to place with no real purpose other than to just keep moving. These were the days people could catch sight of him. Everyone kept their distance. Some asked if he was okay. Others scoffed at him, thinking he was an addict riding a high.

One approached him. A strange man with a stranger aura, dressed far too well to have been in Satellite. A man with russet hair and olive green eyes that pierced Yusei’s soul. Thankfully, Yusei had his wits about him the day they initially met.

The man had stepped out of the shadows, making noise Yusei couldn’t miss, letting himself be known to avoid a scare. Yusei gave him a once over, feeling the hair on the back of his neck rise. The man didn’t get particularly close, but he was much closer than anyone else ever had been willingly, so his confidence was noteworthy.

“Who are you?” Yusei asked.

The man gave him a sympathetic look – Yusei had just gotten out of a sobbing episode and it probably showed – and replied, “A friend, if you’ll have me.”

“A friend?” Yusei frowned. “You don’t want me for a friend.”

The man smiled, and it was something between friendly and predatory. “No one deserves to be all alone for something they can’t control.” Yusei flinched and stared. “I know what it’s like to be hated and feared for being dangerous. I know what it’s like to be branded a monster against your own will.”

“You…you do?” Despite himself, Yusei stepped closer. He’d been by himself for so long, to think someone was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt…

“Yes, I do,” the man answered. He stood still and let Yusei approach him, let Yusei be the one to close the gap, until he was within arm’s reach. “I have a special place, a sanctuary, for people like us. For the ones society branded monsters, or devil spawn, or anything else unwarranted.”

“Where is it?”

The man turned his head and looked to the lights in the distance. Yusei followed his gaze. “New Domino City,” the man said. “Our space is the Arcadia Movement.” Yusei returned his eyes to the man in front of him. “And I am Divine, leader of said Movement.”

Such a strange young man, indeed.

When his investigators came back with rumors of a man-eating beast prowling the ever unflattering ruins known as Satellite, Divine had been interested. That interest had gotten much stronger when Director Rex Goodwin cleared the use of firearms in the hunt for the creature. Divine had the sneaking suspicion it was a psychic taking revenge against the world, such as his beloved Black Rose, only to be pleasantly surprised.

Yusei was no psychic, not by any stretch of the mind. When Divine had finally located him and talked to him, he was struck with a sense of deja vu. Exhausted and filthy from being on the run for who knows how long. Empty of everything aside from a bone-deep sorrow and a miserable loneliness he’d been forced to get accustomed to. That had been Divine once, long ago when he went by a much different name.

Divine didn’t make a habit of pitying others, but when he’d looked into that boy’s eyes, it plucked at the heartstrings. Aki’s eyes had been full of resentment and rage towards the world, but they had been bright and determined. She wasn’t someone to be pitied, just someone who needed to be taught and directed. Yusei’s, on the other hand? Dull and bordering on lifeless. How he’d found the drive to keep going was unfathomable, but damn if he hadn’t done it.

Absolutely, Divine was going to take this young man in under his wing. If the rumors were accurate, then Divine most certainly had a use for him. Disposing of human bodies was always a hassle; getting them in and out of the city was expensive and quite risky. But if he had a way to get rid of them in the Movement, even if just the parts prone to rotting quickly, then that would make the most dangerous part of his plan so much easier.

But good things took time. No, the first encounter was to give Yusei the briefest taste of what he could have. The second one happened later than Divine had wanted, but the boy was constantly trying to outpace Sector Security, so it was understandable. That second meeting was even worse than the first.

Divine had found Yusei curled up in a ball in the corner of a half demolished apartment building. At first, Divine had thought he was hiding, until he knocked on the threshold. Yusei snapped to attention, revealing that he’d been crying rather heavily. His entire body shook and shuddered with unstable breaths and half stifled sobs as Divine approached.

When the older man knelt down and slowly reached out, Yusei shrank away at first, fumbling over a string of words Divine just didn’t understand. But, after a couple of tries, Yusei stayed still and let Divine rest a hand on his shoulder. When he gently tugged on Yusei, the young man complied and leaned into the embrace.

As he held the teen in his arms, Divine couldn’t help but compare him to Aki. While they were similar in certain ways, Yusei was much more extreme in those ways. For instance, Aki had certainly wanted positive human interactions, but Yusei was desperate for it. Divine wasn’t sure why, but that deprivation seemed to have taken a heavier toll on Yusei than it did Aki.

Divine looked down at Yusei, waiting until the sobs had passed and his breathing leveled out to speak. “I didn’t realize you were suffering so much,” Divine started. “If I had, I wouldn’t have made you wait like that.” Yusei didn’t speak, just glanced up to show he was listening. “If you think you’re able, I’d like to take you with me today.”

Yusei raised his head a little more. “To the Movement?” Divine nodded, and for a moment, he could swear he saw a little glimmer in those empty eyes. Yusei lowered his head again, resting against Divine with all his weight now, and whispered, “That sounds wonderful.”

“It will be. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at chapter title* 
> 
> I guess I think I'm funny


	4. Ignition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A light-hearted interim before we get back to the heavy stuff.

To say Yusei was enraptured with the building might have been an understatement. His gaze wandered around slowly, taking in his new surroundings carefully. Divine silently led him through the corridors of the higher floors – places very few were allowed to be – and brought Yusei into a large bedroom decorated in shades of blue. It was sparse, holding only a queen-sized bed, a nightstand, and a dresser, but it did have its own full bathroom.

“This is your room,” Divine said. “There isn’t much in it, but that can change as you see fit.”

“Mine…?” Yusei asked softly. He reached out to the dresser, only to stop short and jerk back as though afraid to touch it. Was he being mindful of how dirty he was, or did he think that touching anything would reveal this to be a dream? Divine was inclined to believe it to be the latter, but better safe than sorry.

The master psychic gently steered his new ward to the bathroom and flicked on the light. White and pale blue greeted them, and Divine smiled when he heard Yusei gasp softly at the sight. He nudged Yusei in further. “I know all of this is very overwhelming, but you’ll adjust,” he said. “Wash up, take as long as you want. I’ll be back with new clothing for you.”

Yusei’s reply was just a mumbled “okay” as he stepped farther in, shakily pulling at his clothes as Divine slid the door closed again. So far, so good, but there was so much more to be done. If he was to make use of Yusei, he needed to keep the boy close and dependent. But that ran into the issue of introducing him to Aki in such a way that didn’t incite her wrath upon Yusei.

Divine had certainly done his best to keep Aki close, but he may have done it too well. If she grew jealous, she could very well lash out at Yusei. If she grew resentful, she could wind up lashing out at everyone, Divine included. Neither outcome was desired or beneficial, but how to go about achieving one that was?

Divine knew he would have to speak to her before an in-person meeting between the two. Perhaps he should play up the unfortunate circumstances around Yusei, how terrible a hand he was dealt. That would be a bit of a gamble, given how little Divine currently knew of the boy’s past, but the meeting didn’t have to happen immediately, did it? He would simply have to keep the information vague.

Yusei felt so terribly out of place. The bathroom around him was so clean and bright, the exact opposite of him. Everything was so immaculate he didn’t want to ruin it.

But, at Divine’s behest, Yusei complied. He stripped himself of his tattered, stained clothing and moved to the large, almost square bathtub. The faucet showed him his warped reflection, and he caught his own eyes; he looked ready to simply drop dead. _Maybe you should_ a voice hissed in the back of his mind. His hands trembled.

Once more, that strange fire rose inside him, a feeling he could scarcely describe. **Do not die now!** It demanded. **You have been given a new chance – do not throw it away!**

Yusei swallowed thickly, and reached out again for one of the handles beside the faucet. A gentle tug and water rushed from the glinting steel. A small circle resided above the faucet; a button and a lever. Curious, he flicked the lever from down to up.

The faucet ceased spilling water, and he heard something shift above him. A strange metal oval with lots of holes was there, and took on the duty of releasing water like rain. Yusei held his hand out to feel, and icy water greeted him. He didn’t flinch – he had bathed in cold rains before – but there was another handle on the opposite side…

Reaching over, Yusei pulled the second handle, then pushed the first closer to its original position. Within moments, steam began to fill the air, and Yusei put a hand under the rain. Warm. He could take a warm bath here.

Yusei pulled his hand back and stood, and cautiously stepped under the downpour. The warmth quickly overtook him, pulling free the filth he had mindlessly accumulated over the…how long had it been, again? Kiryu’s parting screams echoed through Yusei’s mind and he shuddered.

Yusei looked around, trying to find something to distract himself if only for a moment. The water left streaks over his body, slowly but surely cutting through the mess. On the edge of the bathtub was a collection of bottles he’d overlooked in his fascination with the water. He knelt and turned their labels toward him. Bottles of pink and white soap, one of them had bubbles in it. The dark pink one was shampoo and strawberry scented – whatever that was. The pale pink one was conditioner, also strawberry themed. The white one was body wash, scented with vanilla; another unknown.

Yusei shrugged and took the body wash first, finding a strange, fluffy green thing behind the bottles as he did so. He grabbed that thing too, and it felt nice to hold; maybe this was what people in New Domino used instead of rags? He soaked the green fluff, shaking his head like a dog as his hair was dragged down with the weight of water.

The fluff held soap rather well, it seemed, and was decent at scrubbing. It felt wonderful to finally feel clean after so long. His hair did put up something of a fight, but after enduring neglect for so long, it was to be expected. That conditioner stuff seemed useful in taming his wild mane, though.

Yusei took a moment to marvel at the fact that the water’s temperature had remained constant throughout the entire endeavor. He knew he’d adjust to it eventually, as Divine had said, but he relished in the surprised delight it gave him. He wanted to feel something that wasn’t crushing guilt, or an aching sorrow, or acidic self-loathing, or even the boiling hot…determination?

Determination. That sounded right.

Yusei wanted more good in him, in his ragged heart, so he turned his gaze to the circle above the faucet again. Flicking the lever down, removing the wonderful rain for the rush of the faucet, and pressed the button. Something clicked, and the water started rising around his feet. A warm bath! His body was clean, but surely there was no harm in just relaxing for a little while?

A thought struck him, and he glanced around the rim of the tub again. There, on the side opposite the soaps and fluff, was another gathering of bottles. He glanced through them quickly – surely a place like this would have it – and there it was. A small white bottle of vanilla soap made for a bubble bath. Yusei felt a child-like giddiness as he popped the lid open and swiveled around to pour some into the waterfall. White clouds of bubbles were quick to crop up in the rising waters, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

As the clouds rose, Yusei scooped some into his hands and blew at them, scattering the sticky bubbles everywhere. The giggle that came out of his throat was hoarse and broken, but it didn’t dampen the simple joy. He knew that the cold and pain would come back for him but for now, the warmth of the water, the rainbow shine of the bubbles, and the simmering feeling of his own will to survive kept it at bay.

Divine had been somewhat hesitant to enter the bathroom – it had been nearly an hour – but the sound of laughter made him perk up. The broken teen was laughing at something. It was not a kind of laughter Divine was used to; it was genuine laughter, born from happiness. The boy’s voice was still raspy and fragmented, but the sound and the emotion behind it were unmistakable.

Divine smiled to himself. His plan was off to a strong start. Hopefully it would keep steady as things progressed.

When the laughter quieted down, the master psychic knocked on the door three times. “Yusei?” he called.

“…here,” came the reply. Was that sheepishness?

“I’ve brought some new clothes for you.” A simple outfit comprised of a loose grey tank top, dark grey sweatpants, and black socks. “I do hope they fit.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Yusei said. Divine heard some splashing, and then the rumble of the drain. Within a few moments, the knob turned and the door came open just slightly. Divine looked up with some mirth to see stream flooding out into the bedroom. Yusei peeked out at him, and already he looked leagues better. Unfortunately, his cheek and collar bones were still far too prominent for Divine’s liking, but that would be dealt with in time.

The older man offered the clothing, which were received with a nod of gratefulness before the door closed again. Stepping back, Divine’s mind wandered a little. Yusei seemed to be finding some comfort in the luxuries he now had access to, which just helped his plan advance. But, he needed to know more about his new charge. With his lack of psychic powers, Divine could very well plant a mind bug and tap into him through his dreams, but that depended on how suspicious Yusei was of his intentions. So far, there didn’t seem to be much suspicion at all, but that could just be a good poker face.

There was very little room for error; Yusei held too much potential value.

The bathroom door came open again, and Yusei joined Divine, his visible tan skin flushed with pink from the heat. His yellow-streaked black hair was already regaining its spikiness, and his azure eyes seemed to hold life. “What do we do now?” Yusei asked.

Divine paused to think on it but didn’t need to answer, as Yusei’s stomach made its unhappiness known rather loudly. The teen grimaced and held his middle. “Perhaps food would be the best course of action,” Divine said simply.

Yusei looked up at him with fear. “Food…?”

“Well, of course. You need to eat-”

Yusei pointed his gaze to the floor. “I…I can’t eat…”

“Can’t eat?”

The boy looked up at him, and something in Divine’s chest twisted at the broken expression. “I can’t eat normal things,” Yusei whispered.

Divine sighed. “I know that.” Yusei snapped to attention. “Of course I know that. The rumors of some ‘man-eating monster’ were what drew me to Satellite. And,” he held up a hand to stop Yusei’s budding protests, “I stand by what I’ve said. The Arcadia Movement is meant for people like you and me. You, an unwilling apex predator. I, a powerful psychic. Bestowed with our own curses, both branded as monsters for things beyond our control. My invitation was based on your need for human flesh, and I will see you brought back to health. I will give you a chance at a life society would bar you from, has barred you from.”

Yusei was silent, his eyes unfocused. Then, he asked, “How would you feed me?”

“How much do you hate society?” Divine countered softly. Yusei frowned at the question, so Divine continued. “Think about everything you’ve been through. The Satellite – does such a place truly need to exist? Is it truly integral to the survival of New Domino City? Is the city’s current lifestyle worth the suffering of those in Satellite?”

Something was igniting in Yusei’s eyes, a harsh glimmer that Divine knew all too well. _Get angry, be furious; I can work with that_. “You’re not alone. You want to free those in Satellite from their indentured servitude. I want to free my fellow psychics from hiding. Our peoples and their plights are different, but the goal is the same. And I believe you will be essential in helping us reach what we want.”

“How?” Yusei’s tone was sharp and his eyes were steeled.

Divine smiled. “We have…peculiar ways of getting what we need from our adversaries. We have caught many a would-be-mole trying to infiltrate our Movement. As one might expect, getting rid of such evidence is risky.” Divine lifted Yusei’s chin to stare into his eyes. “With you, however? A good deal of that risk is removed. And that helps ensure we get closer to our goals.”

He released Yusei, and realized the teen was gripping the hem of his top tightly with shaking hands. “I know this is a lot to take in at once-”

“I can’t keep running,” Yusei interrupted. Divine blinked in mild shock. The teen reached up and placed a hand over his heart. “Whether I like it or not, this…this hunger is a part of me now, and I can’t change it.” His hand grasped roughly at the fabric. “I made a choice a while ago, between living and dying, and I chose to live.” Yusei shook his head. “I don’t want that choice to be a mistake.”

Divine smiled. “Then it won’t be. We’ll make sure of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I went into writing this chapter, I had no intention of doing a bath scene or giving such a reprieve. It just sort of happened.
> 
> And I don't think I mind it.


	5. What He Feared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusei has a feast to celebrate the new start in the Arcadia Movement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra Warning: We are now at the part where Yusei starts eating people on-screen. Turn back now or wait for the next chapter if you want to stay away from it.

The basement levels were cold and dreary, everything some shade of grey. Yusei followed Divine down hall after hall, past several strange metal doors. What was he getting himself into? What had he agreed to? His determination rose up in his chest, a silent but potent reminder. He could be more than just a monster. He could help. He could still do some good.

Screams drew Yusei’s attention outwards again. The noise echoed down the halls and sent chills up and down Yusei’s spine. He kept following. The closer the pair got to the source, the more the screams morphed into words. Strings of profanity and empty threats.

“…rain down hell on you demons! You’ll all be dead, you hear me?!”

Yusei set his shoulders; Divine had been speaking truth. He glanced at the psychic in a wordless question. “A vocal opponent to the Arcadia Movement,” Divine answered simply. “He’s led several vandalism efforts against us and attacked a young psychic looking for refuge with us. Now, he will learn that his actions have dire consequences.” Yusei nodded in resolute confirmation.

The metal door swung open, and a dark-skinned woman in a red-stained lab coat stalked out, freezing in place when she nearly ran into the pair. “Divine!” she exclaimed, then kicked the door closed as the captive inside became even more bellicose. “I wasn’t aware you were visiting.” The stranger eyed Yusei. “Who…?”

“A new addition to our cause,” Divine said with a smile. The woman took a half-step back. “He has an important meeting with our…guest.”

The woman cocked her head to the side, her snow-white dreadlocks slipping from her shoulders. “Are you testing his powers here?”

Divine shook his head. “No powers, Absentia. He will serve a much different role.”

Absentia straightened with wide eyes. “Wait. Is he…?” Her golden gaze landed on Yusei again. “The monster from Satellite?” Yusei nodded tensely. Absentia smiled a strange, perhaps knowing smile. “Viscora’s going to have a field day with you,” she said. She quickly side-stepped the duo and moved past. “I’d love to stay and watch, but I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere.”

“Clean-up, I presume?” Divine called after her. The resulting groan was answer enough it seemed, because he didn’t pursue a different response.

“Who was that?” Yusei asked, glancing back until the woman disappeared.

Divine smiled. “Dr. Absentia. A well-studied psychologist who has a strong interest in how psychic minds work.”

“Then, who’s Viscora?” Yusei asked.

Divine paused in reaching for the handle. “Viscora…” he began, “Viscora Durviir is a fellow psychic. She’s…” Another pause. “She wants to know everything there is to know about being psychic. She has an obsession with understanding what others would stay well away from.”

“Like me?”

Divine nodded. “I think she’ll be very interested in you.” The door jerked open without Divine’s action, and Yusei had to look up. Another woman in a red-stained lab coat, but this one was much taller with copper skin and pink hair pulled back into a thick, long braid. Sharp emerald eyes bore into Yusei’s, and he found himself shaking under her scrutiny.

His determination welled up inside him, hissing and screeching in defiance. Those eyes widened slightly, and the woman smiled like a smirk. “You must be the new kid,” she said, her voice deep and powerful. Yusei nodded – this must be Viscora. She turned her gaze to Divine. “You wanna test him out on this sorry sack of shit?”

“He’ll finally be of some use to someone,” Divine confirmed. Viscora’s grin got a little more feral, and she moved aside to gesture the two in. Divine went first, and Yusei followed, nearly flinching when the door closed with a clang. At the back of the room, a man was strapped to a chair, covered in various bleeding wounds.

“We ain’t done much to him,” Viscora stated, “but that was on the hunch you’d come back from that investigation with somethin' to show for it.”

Divine raised a brow. “You believed the rumors to be true?”

“Wanted ‘em to be,” she clarified. “Makes me wonder what else that cesspool could give us if we went lookin’.” For all his previous bluster, the man was quiet as Viscora circled Yusei, sizing him up. “All skin and bones, little man,” she assessed, and smiled a cruel smile. “All the better for your first meal in New Domino! Let’s see what you can handle.” And she gestured to the table to the left of the captive.

A wide variety of steel tools gleamed under the harsh light. Some of the blades had some red tint to them. “Use whatever you want, little man,” Viscora encouraged. “Show us what you’ve got. Hopefully we’ll get some info outta this.”

Yusei’s focus didn’t leave the man before him. The words he spat fell on deafened ears. All Yusei knew for a moment was his hunger, and the way to ease it. He moved forward, ignoring the tools, and went with his gut for the first time in forever.

Yusei sank his teeth into the man’s shoulder and ripped a chunk free.

The man shrieked, but it didn’t matter. The flavor in his mouth was still beyond words, and he savored it. Going so long with only the occasional mouthful had been hellish, but only with the feast squirming right in front of him did he realize how much he had suffered.

Yusei moved in for another bite, and his prey jerked away. With a snarl, Yusei grabbed his prey by the throat and slammed it into place. He leaned into the same spot, lapping at the blood before taking another piece. The prey was talking around his grip, and Yusei heard someone laughing behind him. He didn’t care. Bite after bite, Yusei worked his way around the shoulder, moving around the chair for better angles. He tore at the wondrous flesh until he was satisfied, and yanked on the arm.

It came away in his grip as he wanted, and only then did he release the throat. He backed away from the prey to tear into the arm’s meat. He largely ignored the work going on around him – no one was taking his food from him, so what did he care?

It didn’t take him long to clean the bones of a vast majority of their flesh. He had half a mind to break them to get at the marrow inside, but his stomach was still far too empty for that much effort. Instead, Yusei discarded the barely-attached bones and moved forward again.

The wound had been somewhat tended to, haphazardly patched to staunch the bleeding. He sniffed the wound, and decided against biting into it again – it smelled like medicine. He switched to the opposite side and began gnawing on the shoulder. His prey writhed under him, blubbering on about something, but no one moved to stop Yusei as he fed. He made quick work of this shoulder, tearing the arm free once more and retreating with it to feast. This time, he forced himself to be more conscious of his surroundings.

Viscora advanced on his prey with purpose as Divine stayed back and observed. Yusei still couldn’t get himself to listen to the conversation. Whatever the prey had said didn’t please Viscora, and she snapped at it.

Why was he calling it… _him_ prey? Had something happened to his mind? Well, of course something had happened to his mind; he couldn’t get it to hear Viscora talking to the prey. Was this a side effect to giving in to his cannibalistic needs? Maybe it was an enhanced form of survival instincts – he knew the prey, Divine, and Viscora weren’t threats, so his mind was ignoring them for things that might be? But that didn’t explain the dehumanizing he was doing.

The arm was bare and his belly full, but the hunger persisted. So he stepped forward again. Viscora happily moved out of his way, and this time, Yusei reached for the tools. A simple serrated blade with a black handle. The prey wriggled under Yusei’s hands, the movement’s feverish when the knife came into play.

Yusei held the prey by the throat, then thought better of it. He held the head steady with one hand, and sank his teeth into the neck. Blood gushed into his mouth, and he drank greedily before tearing the piece free. The gurgling noise the prey made rang clear in his ears, and when his mouth was empty, Yusei met Viscora’s predatory grin with one of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ever wonder how Divine's powers manifested? Like, Aki's is rose vines and shit, but what was his?


	6. A Nebula, a Comet, and a Distant Supernova

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being Yusei is suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THREE CHAPTERS IN RAPID SUCCESSION WHAT HAS POSSESSED ME (lol artisticfool and xenoemblem I'm glad you like it so far) [Also shout-out to lifeordeath for supporting me on discord] Y'all are precious and I love you

Mistakes had been made, and were very much regretted.

Yusei groaned as his stomach churned uneasily. He had eaten far too much, but his stomach was as stubborn as he was and refused to let him vomit. Divine had escorted him back to his bedroom at some point, and was checking in on him regularly. Viscora had even visited once, and she still looked ever so pleased with his performance.

The entire feeding had taken several hours, and Yusei quickly learned his stomach was quick and surprisingly elastic. If Viscora was to be believed, he had devoured both arms, both legs, the liver, both kidneys, the neck, and the heart. “And to think,” she’d said excitedly, “this is what you’re capable of after such a long period of borderline starvation. Imagine how much you could eat when you’re on a proper feeding schedule!”

…he had truly become the monster Crow said he was, hadn’t he?

Thinking of Crow and Jack wasn’t something Yusei liked to do. He didn’t know how to feel about them anymore. They ratted him and Kiryu out, but they had suffered. But they had also agreed to it in the first place. And what became of them after? He hadn’t caught wind of them after Kiryu’s capture, but then again, it wasn’t like he had been social at that point. Did he hope they had gotten through alright, or did he hope they were taken to the Facility too?

A knocking at the door gave him an excuse to put that thought on hold. “Decent,” Yusei called out. The door opened slowly, then rushed closed as his visitor swung into the room in a hurry. Yusei tensed; he didn’t know this person.

A girl, teenage, maybe around his own age. Mauve hair with a weird pin at her bangs, wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt and shorts. She turned to Yusei completely and was obviously sizing him up as he was her. Yusei sat up, keeping the blanket around him and ignoring the protests of his stomach. “Hello,” Yusei greeted; might as well keep it polite.

“Hi,” the stranger said. Her intensity faded, apparently not thinking him to be a potential threat anymore. She walked forward with certainty until she was beside his bed. “I am Aki Izayoi, Divine’s star pupil.”

“A psychic like him,” Yusei stated. Aki blinked at him. “Well, nice to meet you, Aki.”

“What do you mean,” Aki started slowly, “when you say a psychic like him?”

“I’m not a psychic like you,” Yusei replied. “But Divine took me in anyways. He said that the Arcadia Movement is meant for people like us, who were called monsters for things beyond their control.”

Aki’s shrouded expression disappeared, replaced with one of confusion. “It is, but if you’re not a psychic, why do people think you’re a monster?”

“Well…” Yusei’s stomach gurgled unhappily, nearly making him wince. “I’m an…odd case.”

“How odd?” Aki pressed.

“Very?” Yusei hesitated. “I guess ‘odd’ is putting it very mildly-”

“Aki.” Both teens jumped and snapped to attention; Divine was standing in the threshold, looking rather miffed. “I do believe you’re meant to be in examination right now.”

The girl shuffled in place. “I know, but Dr. Absentia wasn’t there, and I couldn’t find her, so…”

“So?” Divine prompted.

“So I went to meet the new member,” Aki squeaked out. She turned to Yusei and thrust her hands out – his deck! How had he forgotten? “Also I found this and since I don’t know anyone here who uses these cards, I figured they were yours,” she said in a rush.

Yusei took the deck from her hands and flipped over the first card. Junk Synchron stared back at him, and he smiled at the sight. “Thank you, Aki,” Yusei said. She blushed, then quickly joined Divine at the door. The older psychic ushered her through.

“Are you feeling alright?” Divine asked.

“No different from last time you asked,” Yusei replied. He shifted to lay back against the headboard of the bed and sighed at the pressure lifted from his middle. “Can I ask you about Aki?”

Divine nodded. “She’s my top student, and an exceptionally powerful psychic.”

“She didn’t know about my…condition?”

Divine shook his head. “No. Unless you told her?”

“I didn’t. Should I have?”

Divine pondered the question for a moment. “I would rather we keep this on a need-to-know basis, but I know Aki well enough to know she wouldn’t out a secret like this.”

_Unlike someone I knew_ Yusei thought bitterly, but he shoved it aside. “That’s good to hear,” Yusei said. “She seems nice enough. Maybe she’ll be the first friend I make here.”

Divine smiled at the tentative statement. “Perhaps she will be. But, that can wait for now.” There was a hushed voice, but Yusei was quick to recognize it as Viscora. Divine nodded to her. “I’ll be back in a little while. Absentia may check up on you in my stead, should my duties take longer than they normally do.” Yusei nodded in confirmation, and then he was alone once again.

Flipping Junk Synchron back over, Yusei started sorting through his cards, issuing a mental apology for not noticing their absence earlier. His deck was small, just reaching the minimum of forty, and he briefly wondered what kind of cards would be available to him now. He’d keep all of his current cards of course, but a nice tune-up would be well appreciated.

Yusei reached his extra deck and expected to see Stardust Dragon. He didn’t; Junk Warrior was the first to greet him. Yusei frowned – where was Stardust? Junk Archer, Gravity Warrior, Nitro Warrior, where was- Yusei froze.

Red Dragon Archfiend stared back at him.

Yusei couldn’t breathe right. Why was Archfiend here? It was Jack’s ace monster, his very soul, why was it in Yusei’s deck? There was one more card under the red dragon, and Yusei peeked at it. Finally, Stardust Dragon was in his view. He held both his own ace and Jack’s. _Why_?

Yusei pulled Red Dragon Archfiend free of the rest of his cards, and noticed how badly his hands were shaking. He couldn’t recall ever taking Red Dragon Archfiend himself – had someone slipped it into his deck on one of the few occasions he wasn’t looking? That would be impossible; like himself, Crow, and Kiryu, Jack guarded his deck with his life. No one could have possibly taken it from him.

Or Jack put it there himself.

That was the only scenario that made any sort of sense, that the dragon was with him by Jack’s own hand. But the how didn’t answer the why. Yusei hadn’t seen Jack since that fateful night, so he must have acted before that.

_Maybe Jack was sorry_ a voice whispered. _Maybe it was for safe-keeping_. _Confronting Security was a huge risk. Maybe he didn’t think he’d be let go_.

“If Jack didn’t expect to be let go,” Yusei murmured, “then why give it to me? He went to sell me out, didn’t he?” The officers took Kiryu, they hunted Yusei with real guns, how would Jack have expected Yusei to survive? Did Jack want Yusei to have survived?

Yusei put Red Dragon Archfiend back with his deck, then leaned back and groaned into his hands. His stomach hurt, his heart hurt, and now his head hurt. What was he supposed to do now? Did he go looking for Jack to give Archfiend back? Did he just go on with the current course of his life? Did he ignore Archfiend, or use it alongside Stardust?

Why was Jack always so hellbent on making everything so difficult?

Yusei let his hand flop down on either side of him. So many questions and hardly any concrete answers. Sleep was looking more and more tempting every second, so he slid down under the covers and pressed the pillow to his face. Not even the softness or floral fragrance could draw him out of the useless circling thoughts. Yusei reached inside of himself, trying to find that determination; it hadn’t steered him wrong so far.

Yusei bolted upright, a strange thought suppressing the stabbing discomfort of his stomach. That determination had always felt like a fire, white-hot flames that could be whipped up into a frenzied inferno when he needed it to be. Was that Jack’s doing? Did he give Yusei Archfiend and in turn the determination to survive?

That fire flared once more, and Yusei knew what he had to do. He needed to find Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, the pre-game prep ends.


	7. Root Causes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Durviir and Divine have a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I hope the OCs don't get too annoying. I don't plan on having anymore than the two, but I may have to improvise with canon-but-never-explored characters further on down the line.

“It’s a mutation.”

Divine looked up from Absentia’s latest reports. “Pardon?”

Viscora was frantically writing something down as she spoke. “It’s a mutation. Moreover, it’s a forced mutation. Satellite is soaked in the radiation from momentum, and it’s had a radical effect on little man’s body.” She turned to Divine with a wild glint in her eyes. “We have to replicate the scenario! I must know how it works!”

“But what would that give us, in terms of the Movement?” Divine asked. Dissuading her always proved exceptionally frustrating.

Viscora grinned. “You’ve been pulling in weaker psychics – lemme have a go at them! Maybe the radiation will do somethin’ to their powers!”

Divine cocked a brow. “What makes you think that?”

“Momentum energy is duel energy, and it’s inherently unstable and dangerous,” Viscora explained. “Granted, we don’t know what’ll happen with high but non-lethal bursts of exposure, but we do have a case of long-term exposure. Your boy, Yusei.” She danced around the desk, searching for something. “On top of that, I can tell that Yusei himself experienced a burst of exposure before likely in his infancy, lining up with the Zero Reverse event.”

What she eventually handed Divine was a comparison of charts and graphs he didn’t exactly understand, so he let her continue. “Shockin’ly enough, the longer I monitor Yusei, the more intriguin’ he becomes. At the beginnin’ of the graph here,” Divine followed her finger to the second graph, “you can see that Yusei had a resting radiation level. Like all living creatures exposed to the radiation, it lingers inside. However, the longer Yusei resides here with us…” Divine followed the line, watching it steadily climb higher and higher.

“What does that mean for him? Divine asked. “What does it mean for us?”

Viscora’s smile turned vicious. “Momentum energy is inherently _unstable_. If it’s ingrained itself into Yusei like I suspect it has, then his very body is unstable. Unstable means pliable for us.” She straightened up. “Thus, I propose an experiment for Yusei.”

“I’m listening.”

“Feed him the flesh of psychics,” Viscora suggested. “Psychic powers are genetic, and if this instability goes all the way through, then we can make him into a psychic.”

Divine contemplated her words. “I see the potential,” he said slowly, “but why take that route?”

Viscora huffed at him. “Because I’m thinkin’ ten steps ahead. You’re the obvious leader, but also the most obvious target. Yusei has all the natural charisma you want people to think you have. Make him your failsafe. Give him a reason to gather up psychics, give him a reason to take up your cause, and the rest will fall into line.” Viscora shrugged, but her sharp gaze betrayed the supposed nonchalance. “Plus, I have it on good authority that usin’ him like this would royally piss of Goodwin.”

“What authority is that?”

Viscora shuffled through papers again, and produced a photo. Director Goodwin’s top lackey, Lazar, standing…in Satellite? The little jester was standing in front of a young man, much taller with a long white coat and blonde hair. The stranger’s expression was some mixture of resignation and barely-contained fury. Divine looked at his companion for an explanation.

“That,” Viscora began triumphantly, “is someone Goodwin had his sights on for some time. Offered some sort of deal to him. Even I thought he’d take it.”

“What deal?”

Viscora shrugged again, this time a bit more genuinely. “Not sure on the details, but it was probably to get out of the Satellite. What’s important is that Goodwin had a requirement – one Red Dragon Archfiend, and one Stardust Dragon.” Viscora’s eyes glowed. “Both of which I confirmed were in Yusei’s possession.”

Divine’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the importance of that? This young man was meant to steal from Yusei?”

Viscora _tsked_ at him. “I witnessed this guy duel – Red Dragon Archfiend was his own monster, as Stardust Dragon is Yusei’s. If he was meant to steal, then he did the opposite and gave Yusei his own ace monster.” Viscora waved her hands in the air. “I’m gettin’ off track! Look, you and I both know Goodwin used to work on that old reactor way back when, right?”

“Yes…”

“Well, the man who started the project-” Viscora searched around and produced another photograph. Three older men, side by side. One Divine recognized as a younger Rex Goodwin, another Divine didn’t know, but could easily assume was Yusei’s father. “Our new recruit’s the spittin’ image of his old man,” Viscora said with a grin. “These two used to be awfully close, and the only reason I can think of as to why Goodwin would want Yusei’s ace monster stolen is as a lure.”

Divine leaned back. “Director thinks he’s obligated to look after his late friend’s son?”

It was by sheer force of will that Divine didn’t flinch when his companion burst into maniacal cackling. “Oh, no, Divine!” she exclaimed. “See, I did some very deep diggin’, and you know what I found out?” Divine nodded hesitantly. “The Goodwin brothers-” _Brothers?_ “-had quite the spat over their third musketeer. They both wanted him!”

“Excuse me?”

Viscora’s grin bordered on insane. “They each wanted Dr. Fudo! And neither of them got him, because he married a lady and had a baby with her!” Viscora bounced in her excitement. “And now, since Roman’s up and died, and Dr. Fudo’s gone too, Rex took aim at Yusei and was going to use this young man to get him.”

Then Viscora fell quiet and thoughtful. “Come to think of it, I couldn’t really find anythin’ on Yusei’s mum. No maiden name – no first name for that matter – or a marriage or death certificate. It’s like she just…didn’t exist.” Viscora looked at the table covered in papers and more photos. “Pretty curious if you ask me…”

Divine stood, trying to process everything. “A mother entirely off the grid?” he questioned. “Unknown to any database we can access?”

“Yeah,” Viscora answered. “The best I could do was unearth a single family picture.” She passed such a picture to him – one of a father gazing down happily at his infant son as his wife smiled serenely with her eyes closed.

Divine crossed his arms. “No one can do that so thoroughly,” he said. “Not in this day and age. Who is this woman?”

Viscora tossed her hands up. “I ain’t got the faintest clue, and I was workin’ on this since the afternoon you brought little man in.”

“Do you think this might change things?”

Viscora nodded. “Yeah, it certainly could. I can get all sorts of info on Dr. Hakase Fudo, but his wife’s a total enigma. Whatever her deal was, it may explain why Yusei’s alive after such exposure to momentum’s radiation, and that could upend everythin’.”

“It makes him the exception, not the rule,” Divine agreed. “Do you still want to experiment with him?”

“Of course I do!” Viscora said. “If little man’s got somethin’ special that makes him a cockroach from hell, then I want to prove it!” She grinned again. “And I wanna know if it’s somethin’ we can use to our advantage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodwin needed a reason and this is what my brain came up with.
> 
> Personally, EW, but also strangely interesting.


	8. Who Will Know (Our) Tragedy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aki and Yusei begin to forge a bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought we'd get to Aki faster than this but oh well, at least we got here at all!

Aki was…underwhelmed, to put it nicely.

Seeing Divine take such a vested interest in someone other than her had been both very intriguing and kind of frustrating. She was his star pupil, his Black Rose; she was special to him. And then someone came along that took that attention away from her. Aki had hoped it was a psychic on her level – she would prove her importance, her power, and she would regain Divine’s attention.

Except she didn’t have to do that because he wasn’t even a psychic. This weird teen – Divine said his name was Yusei – was bedridden when she managed to slip past Divine and get to his room. He hadn’t looked outwardly sick, and thought he had just had a training session; Divine could be extensive during those. But Yusei admitted to not being a psychic.

So why was Divine so interested in him? How could he help the Arcadia Movement? Why was he considered a monster?

She wanted, maybe even needed, to know. Divine had been vague, simply telling her to keep her distance until their new member was settled in. Absentia was out of the loop and didn’t know anything. Durviir was Divine’s right hand, he told her everything, but she was unhelpfully cryptic.

“ _Let’s start back again_ ,” Durviir had sang. “ _Unsure of what to do, you return to the idea of assist or consume_. _But that’s not a concern, even though your stomach started to churn_.” No amount of pleading for clarity granted Aki that, and Durviir simply kept humming the song.

Dealing with Durviir was almost never worth the effort for Aki anyways. Being nice didn’t grant Aki anything, and it wasn’t like she could threaten the older woman. Divine would be very unhappy, not to mention how strong Durviir was. Aki wasn’t there when the fights for power happened, but she heard snippets from Divine; Durviir had paid for her title with the blood of her opponents.

Divine being vague, Durviir being herself, and then Yusei dancing around it, Aki was aggravated. She’d find out soon enough, but at least there didn’t seem to be any out-right lying. Well, she’d just have to take matters into her own hands. Maybe Yusei didn’t tell her because he didn’t know her; that was reasonable. More importantly, it was doable. He seemed curious enough about her, and was fairly polite. Aki could withstand him for a little bit.

Viscora was a nice lady, Yusei decided.

Earlier that morning, she had quite the impressive desk brought to his room. It looked antique, big and bulky and covered in lots of doors. Dark brown wood that shined with golden details. Four big drawers, two on each side, and the bottom right one had a false bottom; on top of those, a very long but thin drawer than ran the length of the desk. The top had a ridge around it with tiny cabinets and drawers, and even a place to store writing utensils. There was so much to explore it took up the rest of his morning.

At about noon, Viscora came in with a selection of books and dropped them off, encouraging him to read and study. “You might not have a use for it all,” she had said, “but it’s much better to have and not need than need and not have.” Yusei could certainly agree with that, and sorted through the books. They were mostly textbooks like what he imagined one might find in a school, but that was fine. Those heavy books found their home in the lower left drawer, and his deck was given the special small drawer on the right that had red velvet on the inside instead of the green the rest had.

Thinking about his deck always brought those questions back to the forefront of his mind, and it wasn’t after he could resist taking Red Dragon Archfiend out to look at. Yusei had either been far too harsh in his judgment of Jack’s actions or didn’t know the blonde as well as he thought, and neither option sat well with him. He wondered where Jack was now. Was he still roaming around Satellite? Was he locked up in the Facility?

Was he dead?

Yusei shook himself physically to ward that last thought away. Jack wouldn’t just die, wouldn’t go quietly into the night. He was still alive. He had to be. Was Kiryu okay? Had he been released? Still imprisoned? Executed, even? What happened to Crow?

It took Yusei roughly dropping his head onto the desk to shut his brain up for a moment. He needed to focus.

Someone knocked on his door. “Decent,” he called out. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Aki enter his room with a couple of clear cases full of cards. That was a good enough reason to make Yusei pick his head up. “Hello again, Aki,” he greeted.

“Hi,” the redhead said. She brought the cases over to the desk, giving the big thing a curious look. “When did you get this?”

“Viscora got it for me,” Yusei replied with a small smile. “It’s very complex, and I don’t think I’ve discovered all its secrets yet.”

“Ms. Durviir got it for you?” Yusei didn’t miss the shock in Aki’s voice. “Since when is she nice?” came out barely above a whisper. “Anyways!” Aki clapped her hand together. “I wanted to be nice and brought you some new cards to pick from.” Yusei pulled the top case to him and opened it to reach in. “I saw some of your current deck, so I grabbed things based on that. I hope it works.”

“I’ll find something, I’m sure,” Yusei said. “No card is useless, after all.” He pulled a random card free and examined it. Rush Warrior, a level 2 WIND monster with synergy with “Warrior” Synchros and “Synchron” Tuners. In fact, it looked a lot like his own Speed Warrior, one of his most used cards. Deck upgrades were certainly off to a great start.

What felt like minutes was actually hours. While hesitant at first, Aki was soon chattering away with Yusei as they discussed the various potential additions to his deck. Rush Warrior, Rockstone Warrior, Turret Warrior, and Trident Warrior joined his main deck. A few more Junk monsters had appeared to him as well – Servant, Giant, Anchor, and Forward. A level 10 Synchro had joined as well – Satellite Warrior. There was even a field spell for his deck now in Starlight Junktion.

As Yusei browsed over the remaining cards, he noticed movement at his deck. Aki picked up two cards from it to stare. He pulled back, and his heart leapt into his throat when he saw she was holding Stardust and Red Dragon Archfiend. He bit his tongue.

“Stardust Dragon really seems to fit this deck of yours,” Aki mused. “It’s pretty and all…” She held up Archfiend a little higher. “But I think I like this one more.”

“You do?” Yusei asked. He tried to force his heart back into its rightful spot. “Why is that?”

Aki smiled an odd smile. “It looks like it’s really good at destroying whatever is in its way. Three-thousand attack points and the ability to destroy any defense position monsters the opponent may have? This is a card I can get behind.” She tilted her head. “I’m not fond of destroying other monsters I control for not attacking, but I guess it just needs an attack-focused deck.”

Yusei’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s the kind of deck it used to be in.”

“Used to be?”

Yusei nodded. “I got that card from…from a very close friend of mine.” Aki blinked at him, then looked at Archfiend again. “He said it was his very soul in card form.”

Aki gently placed both dragons back on top of Yusei’s deck. “Your friend must have thought very highly of you, then,” she said. “I can’t imagine willingly parting with a card so dear to me for any reason.”

“Neither can I,” Yusei said softly. Aki turned to him with a look of confusion. “I don’t know why he gave it to me. I didn’t know he did until you brought my deck back to me.”

Aki sat up straighter. “Wait, he gave it to you without you realizing it?” Yusei nodded. “What happened?”

“ _You’_ _ve_ _become a murderer_ _and Yusei’s turned into a monster!_ ”

Yusei closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “A…a lot of things happened,” he replied. “Not a lot of good things.” Aki stayed quiet, and her silence goaded him on. “It has to do with why I’m here at the Movement. Something happened to me, a while ago. Something inside me…changed.”

“Changed?” came the quiet question.

Yusei’s eyes were getting hot. “I…I can’t eat normal things. I can’t keep anything normal down except for water.” He opened his eyes to meet Aki’s, and he saw hers widen a bit. “I’m a…a cannibal,” he chocked out. He curled up on himself – saying it out loud was like running a knife across the side of a metal shipping container.

“A _what_?”

“I can’t help it,” Yusei said, his voice cracking. “I don’t want to be like this. It just happened!” _Please don’t hate me. I can’t be on my own again!_

The silence after his admission was agonizing, and it took a herculean effort to force himself to look at Aki again. She was still sitting beside him, looking at her hands in her lap. “Aki?”

“What happened to your friend?” she asked, not looking up.

Yusei felt the tears fall. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Sector Security came after me, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.” Yusei put his head in his hands. “The card’s all I have left of him now. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“You didn’t eat him?”

“What?!” Yusei bolted upright. “What, no! No, I would have never-!” He paused. “A-at least, I don’t think I would have…” Another heavy silence fell between the two. Yusei curled up again, pawing at his eyes as if that would stop the tears from falling.

“I’m sorry.” Yusei peeked at Aki, and realized she had tears in her eyes, too. “For bringing it up. For the fact you’re in this situation.”

Yusei let his hands drop. “Don’t be,” he said. “You were bound to find out about my ‘condition’ one way or another, and it’s not like you’re to blame for it.” Aki didn’t respond, but something in Yusei kept him talking. “Sometimes I wonder why I kept going. How I still have the audacity to try to survive when my life hinges on hurting others, killing them even. Is my life worth theirs? Who am I to decide that? I know two people who wanted me to live, and I don’t know if either of them are even still alive at this point!”

Yusei finally clamped his mouth shut, and his entire body shook with the storm he trapped inside. His body felt cold, felt numb, but something was clawing at his heart in a desperate attempt to finally tear it apart. The determination flickered in his chest, a tiny beacon of warmth that Yusei just couldn’t reach out to this time.

So something reached out to him.

A pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. A strange but nice scent engulfed his sense of smell. Aki kept her arms around him, silent but present against the stifled sobs that made Yusei shudder uncontrollably.

This was nothing like what Aki had expected.

It was getting late, but she refused to move. Yusei was passed out on her, running so deep into internal hysterics he exhausted himself. Several body parts were either going numb or already had, but Aki stayed put. She couldn’t leave him.

“Others have it worse” was a phrase Aki had always hated. It always felt like a passive-aggressive way to tell her to shut up about her problems like they didn’t count. If everyone was so content to ignore her, then she would make her issues everyone’s problem. She would become something they couldn’t possibly turn a blind eye to.

But here, with Yusei, the phrase held merit. Yusei did have it worse than Aki – her powers might have been demonized, but she had made a choice to be the monster they proclaimed her to be. Yusei didn’t have that choice; life dealt him the worst hand and tell him to deal with it. If what she had witnessed was an accurate measure, Yusei _wasn’t_ dealing with it, not well.

It was beyond baffling. Yusei seemed so nice to her, despite knowing she was a psychic. He didn’t treat her like a feral animal or shun her. He had been entrusted with a close friend’s most precious card, which spoke well of his trustworthiness and loyalty. Why was such a good person given such horrible circumstances? Aki was well accustomed to “the world’s not fair, deal with it”, but this wasn’t just not fair, it was downright cruel.

“ _The universe is dark and uncaring_ ,” Divine had said once, “ _so we ought not to be_.” Aki hadn’t understood those words then – not as angry at everyone as she had been – but now they rang clear. Divine wanted her to be the face of the Arcadia Movement once it went public to the world. She needed to be more than just a wild force of nature. She needed to be someone her fellow psychics would aspire to be.

She needed to be a little more like Divine, and helping Yusei was as good a place to start as any.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two song references in this chapter. Can you guess the songs?


	9. And the Caged Bird Begins to Sing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth of the incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rising action is hard to write properly. I keep trying to jump ahead and have to wrangle myself back. This is another short one; hope y'all don't mind.

The air was frigid, and the metal around him even more so. How long had he been here? Did it matter? _No_ he decided. _It doesn’t matter_. He was weakened. Weak from hunger, from thirst, from the temperature itself. It was various forms of torture, but it all had a single flaw; they couldn’t kill him. Not yet. They wanted him to submit, to willingly become their puppet to do with as they pleased. They were going to be severely disappointed.

The guards were foolish, as a majority of Sector Security was. They talked right in front of his cell, never checking if he was awake to listen in. They spoke of Yusei’s disappearance from Satellite and their inability to locate Crow. They said nothing of Kiryu, though, and he simply had to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Jack curled in on himself, silently contemplating his next moves. Director Goodwin was a master chess player, so undermining him would prove exceptionally difficult, but the old man had made a mistake. He had allowed Jack to glimpse his goal, and thus shown him a weakness. Goodwin was after Yusei – why, Jack didn’t exactly know – and had planned to use the blonde to get him from the start. The offer had been tempting, so very tempting, but Yusei’s ‘condition’ had thrown everything on its head. What would Goodwin do if he managed to get Yusei in his grasp? What would he do once he discovered Yusei’s new hunger? Jack feared the worst case scenarios.

The first case was simply killing Yusei on the spot. If he were forced to choose, Jack would prefer this one. A quick death, freeing Yusei both from Goodwin’s chains and the dark appetite that had seized him against his will.

The second was that Goodwin kept Yusei alive and imprisoned. Maybe he invested too much into Yusei for the hunger to hold his plans back, or maybe the hunger would become a vital part of it. Either way, Yusei would become his latest captive, and would likely have no way out.

Jack couldn’t let either come to pass.

No one had known Lazar approached him with the deal. Not Crow, not Kiryu, and especially not Yusei. The latter was far too kind for his own good; Jack knew if he had explained the situation, Yusei would have given him Stardust. Yusei knew how much Jack hated being in the Satellite – the blonde had seen the blueprints for the duel runner, seen the note attached ‘ _for Jack_ ’. The mechanic would have been happy to let him go first, planned on it even.

Goodwin was breathing down Jack’s neck, Sector Security was closing in on their hideout. If something had to happen, it was going to be on the team’s terms. So Jack devised a plan with Crow. Make it seem like the team had fragmented, and they would scatter to reunite later, when they were sure they weren’t be followed anymore. Kiryu and Yusei would be furious at the deception, but they’d understand.

And everything fell apart. Jack captured, Crow wounded, Kiryu arrested. The only good thing to come out of that disaster was Yusei vanishing into the night. They demanded Jack give up any and all locations he even remotely believed Yusei could have run to, and he had refused. He was still refusing, even though it had been so long since that incident.

Jack knew what the end game of the plan needed to be – reuniting with his team – but how to reach that point was where he faltered. He had no idea where any of them had ended up aside from Kiryu, and getting to the team leader was going to be insanely difficult. Not to mention how unhinged he’d been at the time. He might know where Crow was, or at least had been; failing that, he could go to Martha and wait. But Yusei was top priority; he had to be when in Goodwin’s crosshairs.

Escape Goodwin somehow, track down Yusei, explain what’s really going on, and go from there. That was the furthest Jack’s plan had gotten.

Something banged against the metal door of Jack’s cell, jolting him out of his thoughts. The locks and chains clattered and clicked, and the door swung open to allow Director Goodwin in. Jack glared up at his captor but said nothing.

“Still insisting on being contrary?” Goodwin asked. Jack held his tongue, and Goodwin sighed. “I do wish you were more cooperative. I don’t like inflicting pain like this, you know, but you’re not giving me many options.” Jack just kept his stare; even a single word would be a victory for the Director.

Goodwin looked at Jack with something like thoughtfulness. “If you’re risking your own wellbeing for Yusei Fudo, then we’re on the same side.” _Fucking doubt that_ Jack retorted mentally. “Something has happened since our last talk, and I believe it will change your view on the situation.” Jack raised a brow. “Yusei has been located here in New Domino City.”

Jack’s blood ran cold, and the shock must have slipped through, because Goodwin nodded at him. “My sources tell me he has taken refuge at the Arcadia Movement.” Jack tried to school his expression into something more neutral. “That Movement is being run by a man named Divine. His name is likely unfamiliar to you, but he and I have had a few past conflicts.” _Past conflicts?_ “He is a master psychic duelist and appears to be entertaining the idea of recruiting psychics for his own personal army.” _Excuse me?_ “I fear he has taken Yusei in as an attempt to get at me, though I’ve no idea how he came to this conclusion.”

Lazar peeked into the room, accompanied by two very big men in black suits. He nodded to Goodwin when he was noticed. Goodwin gently lifted Jack’s chin to meet his eyes. “Divine is not a man to be trusted. He has killed many innocents for his cause and if we do not act quickly, Yusei may soon be among them.” He released Jack’s chin and moved aside. A Sector Security officer approached and went around behind Jack, unlocking the cuffs binding his hands.

As Jack rubbed at the raw flesh at his wrists, Goodwin continued. “For Yusei’s safety, we must get him out of Divine’s grasp. While he may have no trust in me, he does have trust in you.” Jack looked up as Lazar handed him back his deck. “You are the only one with any chance of convincing Yusei to leave the Movement.”

“And if I fail?” Jack asked hoarsely.

“I’m afraid failure is not an option,” Goodwin replied. Slowly, Jack got to his feet. His legs wobbled terribly, but held him upright. Wordlessly, the blonde followed the Director through the halls, caged by men in black suits.

As they walked, Jack’s mind kicked into gear. Yusei was close by, close enough to try to make contact. Goodwin was releasing Jack for the explicit purpose of getting to Yusei and getting him out of this Arcadia Movement. If he could convince Yusei to trust him again, then once they were clear of whoever Divine was, they might be able to make a break for it. Of course, Goodwin was going to try to leash Jack, put some sort of tracking device on him or something. Yusei was always a genius with machinery of all kinds, though; he could find and dismantle or disable it.

That still left Crow and Kiryu. Jack knew Yusei well enough to know he wouldn’t leave any team members behind, even if his own life was at risk. He’d insist on going back to Satellite somehow, insist on looking for Crow, maybe even going after Kiryu. How could Jack convince Yusei that leaving was the best, if not only, option they had?

Bright light descended onto Jack, and he turned from it as it stung his eyes. He blinked rapidly as he adjusted, and looked out of the tall windows. A green garden met his gaze, splashed with various colors of blooming flowers; in the not-so-far distance, massive buildings gleamed and glinted in the afternoon sun. Once, this would have been a joyous sight, solid proof Jack had escaped his own personal hell. But now, it was just a pretty prison repurposed to cage him.

He wondered what Yusei thought of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always thought Jack was smarter than most people give him credit for. And a bit more protective.
> 
> Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
> 
> Oh well.


	10. Inspiration Manifestation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusei watched a sparring match and eats his first psychic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA HA double upload!
> 
> At 6 in the morning...
> 
> This is nearly four pages long i'm getting better :}

“Hello, Viscora.”

The tall woman looked up from her tablet and grinned. “Hey, little man!” she greeted. “Let’s get this done real quick.” Yusei stood still as she approached and quickly examined him. He was wearing only shorts and socks for this purpose. A tape measure was employed, measuring his chest, waist, thighs, and bicep. She checked his eyes, his teeth, and tested his grip. She had him step on a scale, which reported he know weighed 101 pounds, ‘or roughly 46 kilos’ as Viscora translated. Everything was recorded in the tablet.

“You’re doin' miraculously well,” Viscora commented. “Even just that meal is doin’ wonders for your physical health. Your muscle mass is greatly improved, as is your strength. Your weight’s gone up by over thirty pounds to boot. Not where I’d like you to be,” she added, “but it’s a step in the right direction.”

Yusei nodded along; for someone who supposedly had no medical training, Viscora knew an awful lot about the human body. Maybe one of her parents had worked in the medical field and she soaked up information subconsciously. “Where should I be?” he asked.

Viscora waved her hand around a bit. “Eh, roughly one-sixty to one-eighty pounds I believe.” She shrugged. “Don’t think I would mind you closer to two-hundred, though.” She tapped away on her device, smiling softly all the while. “We’ll have to see how your digestive system works,” she said. “See what kind of a feedin’ schedule works best for it. Do you eat like a ‘normal’ person-” complete with air quotes, “or is your schedule more sparse than that?”

“Wouldn’t I eat the same either way?” Yusei asked.

Viscora scoffed. “What, no! Hell no! You’d be eating a whole lot more if your schedule’s more spaced out. Think about it like Abby.” Yusei’s eyes drifted to the giant lit-up tank on the opposite side of the room, where an equally giant white and yellow snake stared him down. “She only eats once a month, but she eats a lot for somethin’ her size. It just takes her a while to digest it all.”

Viscora paused and cocked her head to side, staring at nothing. “Although, you ate quite a bit for your then-size, and you went through it pretty quick.” She huffed. “But you’re also still comin’ out of a starvation period, so your body may only be quick to make up for what was lost over that time.”

“So, wait and see?” Yusei supplied helpfully.

Viscora sighed dramatically. “I guess!” She grumbled a bit, but moved away to her computer set-up – an awe-inspiring three monitor behemoth that looked like it was running upwards of seven programs at once without even vaguely sounding distressed. Yusei would have loved to take that beast apart to find out everything he could, but he wasn’t going to. If Viscora treasured it like she should, she’d probably tear him into shreds for even looking at it wrong.

So, instead, Yusei approached Abby, the albino python. Her head followed as he got closer, and Viscora noticed. “Oh, finally gettin’ a good look at her?” She kicked a red and white cooler towards him. “Give her a couple of these while you’re over there.”

Slightly confused, Yusei opened the lid, finding a variety of pieces of meat. He picked up the pair of tongs beside the tank and Abby’s head shot up, her black forked tongue flicking in and out rapidly. “Know what that means, don’t you?” Yusei asked softly, amused. He picked one of the pieces up and slid a part of the tank’s lid to the side to lower it down.

Abby flicked her tongue at the offering, then struck at it, coiling upwards toward the tool. Yusei released the food before she could wrap around the tongs, and watched in mild amazement as Abby devoured her meal. It was a bit bigger than her own head, but her elastic jaw made quick work of it anyways.

Watching the snake eat made something ache in Yusei’s chest. On the outside of his rib cage, right down his sternum, something twinged. He couldn’t place what it was, but it wasn’t painful, so he didn’t think much of it. Abby cleared her mouth, and Yusei gave her a second piece to the same reaction as the first.

Watching Aki duel was an event. Her bond with her plant monsters was something to admire, as they were real – as in, Yusei could physically reach out and touch them. They responded to her words without question, rising up to attack and pulling back to defend.

Divine was the same, but more practiced, more controlled. Even Yusei could see it; Aki was more wild with her attacks and more sloppy with the defense. Aki lashed out like she aimed to hit everything possible while Divine’s attacks were like spears looking for weak points. Aki’s defenses were last-minute affairs while Divine’s were always present and ready to rise up at a moment’s notice.

But where Aki had Divine beat was raw power and resilience, apparently. Even when Divine’s attack struck true, Aki barely grimaced. On the other hand, a blow from Aki always made Divine jerk in pain, even if they only hit the shields he manifested. Once he taught her proper technique and form, Aki would be a true force of nature.

Watching the sparring session was enlightening; Yusei now sort-of understood why normal people were so afraid of psychic duelists. Summoning real monsters, making card effects have real effect, that would seem terrifying. But it seemed counter-productive to shun psychics from society. Wouldn’t it be better to accept psychics as protectors or guardians with those powers? Who would attack a town or city that was under the protection of a group of giant dragons or such?

Yusei shifted uneasily. Well, maybe it wouldn’t better. Psychics could’ve been drafted into military roles to summon countless monsters against their wills, potentially exhausting them to the point of death. What kind of devastation would be wrought upon the world with psychics and their monsters fighting wars? How much collateral would be accumulated? How much of that would be innocent lives?

Yusei wished humanity was better than that, but he knew better. Maybe they’d get there someday, but that was a long way off.

A loud buzzer sounded, startling Yusei from his thoughts. Both Aki and Divine were breathing hard, and they’d acquired some injuries. Yusei stood from his spot on the bench and walked forward as two pairs of medical staff saw to the two psychics.

“That was a good match, Aki,” Divine praised, and Aki beamed. “You’re getting better with your focus, but your defending needs more work.” Aki wilted a little under the gentle criticism. “You’re powerful to be sure, but even your plant whips can’t block everything. Enemies may be using anything and everything to bring you down; just a single hit could be disastrous.” Aki nodded, her expression becoming determined and resolute.

Divine smiled at her, then turned his eyes to Yusei. “What did you think of all that?” he asked. “That was your first time seeing psychic duelists duel, isn’t it?”

“Yes it was,” Yusei replied. “And I thought it was amazing. Having your monsters become real and respond so fluently to your words, spoken or thought, is just…”Yusei flailed mentally for a good enough word.

Divine chuckled as Aki beamed again. “Glad to know you think so highly of us you’re at a loss for words,” she said happily. “Maybe later I can let you meet them all!”

Yusei smiled back. “That would be wonderful-” He cut off abruptly as his stomach growled. He stepped back quickly, holding his middle like his stomach would burst out of him. He trained his sight on the ground.

“Go get changed and rest for a little while,” Divine said, likely to Aki. “He’ll be fine,” the master psychic added softly.

“Okay,” Aki said. Yusei felt a hand rest on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. “You’ll be alright,” she told him. Yusei lifted his gaze just as Aki pulled him close for a quick hug. Then, Divine was gently ushering him through the halls. At some points, Yusei heard lots of talking, like whole groups of people together. A part of him wanted to see what they were doing, know what they were talking about, but the loud demands of his stomach kept him moving.

Down the elevator – which still managed to capture Yusei’s curiosity as to how it worked exactly – and through the dull gray corridors. Still kind of cold, still kind of depressing, but his stomach growled even louder. No sounds of struggling or vehement cursing greeted him this time. That made it even worse.

Divine led him to a different door, but Viscora was there all the same. She was waiting outside the room, leaned against the wall with her ever-present tablet in her hands. She grinned a feral grin at him when she noticed the pair’s approach.

“How did you-?”

“Call it a hunch,” Viscora interrupted. As she turned to unlock the door, Yusei glanced at Divine, who mouthed ‘ _it’s Viscora, don’t question it_ ’. The door came open and Viscora led them inside. Yusei froze two steps in.

The person on the table was small, smaller than Yusei was in height. Brown hair almost down to their shoulders. They were asleep or unconscious, hooked to a selection of machines with numbers and graphs Yusei didn’t know how to decipher. Yusei’s stomach growled again, loud and almost painful. “Who is this?” he asked.

“A victim,” Divine answered. “You remember your previous meal.” Yusei nodded slowly. “This is that young psychic. Unfortunately, the damage that was inflicted has proven too much for even a fellow psychic to heal.”

Yusei hesitated anyway – this wasn’t the same. Before, that man had been hateful and intended to harm. This was an innocent, a young teen at the oldest. This wasn’t right. But his stomach didn’t care; as far as it was concerned, there was no conflict. He was hungry, and food was right in front of him. He got closer, his hunger finally starting to override his hesitancy.

He lifted the closest arm and sank his teeth into the flesh. The blood rushed into his mouth, carrying a strange sweetness to it that his previous prey had lacked. Yusei closed his eyes, savoring the flavor for a moment before tearing the piece free. He swallowed, shivered with the strange tingling feeling it left behind, and moved for another bite.

A familiar feeling arose, that odd twinge in his chest, and made Yusei pause. He pulled back, and went for the shoulder. He gnawed at the flesh until the limb came away in his hands. His eyes flickered up when he noted movement – Viscora pressing something to the wound he left behind. Nothing of consequence.

Yusei licked at the bloody end before biting it. He closed his eyes again, and the snake come to his mind’s eye. His mouth opened as wide as it could. His jaw audibly popped out of place, allowing him to go further. As the end of the arm fit, he felt his muscles going into autopilot, moving without command. From the back of his throat, over his rib cage, and into his stomach, his muscles pushed his food down despite its size. It felt like the way water ripples looked.

Yusei opened his eyes when he felt the arm settling into his stomach, and realized Divine and Viscora were both staring at him. Viscora’s shock was morphing into delight. Divine’s expression was something closer to horror.

It didn’t bother Yusei as much as it should have.


	11. Future Sight / First Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old friend of Absentia and Viscora surfaces. Meanwhile, Yusei and Aki have a little bit of rebellious fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *stuck without a way to advance the story*  
> My Friend: Hey here's an idea  
> Me: *frantically taking notes*
> 
> Thanks for the help, AF. ;}

The phone rang. Dr. Absentia glanced at the caller ID, and breathed a deep, long suffering sigh. Her day, and likely the next year of her life, were both about to be ruined. She picked up anyway.

“Bold of you to call a landline,” she said, forgoing a greeting.

“ _I have my reasons,_ ” her life-long, pain-in-the-ass, soothsayer ‘friend’ replied. “ _I’ve had a recent premonition and want to clarify things with you._ ” Absentia cocked a brow in mild surprise, but acquiesced. “ _You said Divine had taken in a new ward within recent weeks._ ”

The snowy-haired woman leaned back in her seat. “Yes, he has.” She sighed again, shorter this time. “Why is it that every time you have a terrible vision of the future, your gut reaction is to check on us?”

“ _Because Divine is not to be trusted and he has Durviir working under him. That alone is a recipe for a complete disaster._ ”

Absentia snorted with amusement. “I won’t say you’re wrong, but it’s been quiet over here so far. What was it about?”

“ _A young man I’ve never met. It was…personal, this time. I was not just a bystander, but a participant. A victim._ ”

“It put you in first person? You’ve never mentioned something like that happening before.”

“ _That’s because it hasn’t happened before._ ”

“Then I understand the sudden cause for concern,” Absentia said. “But are you sure that Divine taking on a new apprentice actually corresponds with your vision?”

“ _Is he a young man with azure eyes and tan skin?_ ”

“Yes, but that’s still vague.” Absentia did **not** like where this conversation was going.

“ _Black hair with gold streaks that spikes upward?_ ”

“Yes.” The doctor was honestly questioning her life choices for the third time that week.

“ _Has he ever shown distorted carnivorous tendencies? Has he given you any indication that he may have a desire to consume human flesh?_ ”

Absentia hung her head – this was happening, wasn’t it. “He’s already consumed human flesh on multiple occasions; it’s why Divine approached him to begin with.” With the other side silent, she took the moment to pounce on his most recent words. “You speak of him like he’s not human.”

“ _I don’t think he is, Virgil,_ ” her companion said quietly. “ _Humans aren’t capable of what he did in that vision._ ”

“What, swallowing an arm by unhinging his jaw like a snake?”

“ _Try an entire person, alive and struggling._ ”

Absentia hardly batted an eye at the revelation. “Considering that Viscora’s taken a vested interest in him, that seems like the logical outcome she’d push for.”

“ _Virgil, I don’t think you understand,_ ” he said, and she froze at the strangely panicked tone in his voice. “ _This boy is not human, and he may very well have a growing appetite for human flesh._ ”

Absentia looked at her desk, at the report Viscora had given to her so excitedly. “Look at how much he’s eatin’ now!” her best friend had beamed. “He nearly ate the whole kid! He’s makin’ such big strides, I wonder how much he’ll eat next time?”

It got a little harder to breath properly. “He…has been eating more,” she confessed. “He nearly totally devoured his last-”

“ _I’m flying over._ ”

“What? No! You know Divine hates you.”

“ _You’re not safe on your own,_ ” he argued. “ _Divine’s doing his mind games and Durviir’s not going to die anytime soon. You’re vulnerable._ ”

“Viscora wouldn’t let him eat me,” Absentia scoffed, mentally shaking off the chills dancing along her spine. “Besides, she’s limiting him to a very specific part of the population.”

“ _What part?_ ”

“Psychics.”

She almost dropped the phone in shock when he openly swore. “ _She’s making everything worse, as usual._ ”

“How is that-”

“ _He’s not human and she’s feeding him people who produce potent psychic energies. If he’s not a monster now,_ _ **he will be**_ _!_ ”

Petting an over fifteen-foot tall, several ton dragon wasn’t something Yusei ever thought he’d ever do. But there he was, sitting on the fluffy back of Red Rose Dragon to gently stroke Black Rose Dragon’s snout. Aki was seated on another small Rose Dragon – Blue to be specific – as White twirled and flitted around. Despite the dragon’s effects and the way she carried herself in battle, Black Rose handled Yusei and Aki with the utmost care. The whips she used to move them from her children to the back of her own neck were completely devoid of the wicked thorns they normally sported.

Seeing the dueling arena from a monster’s perspective was eye-opening. Even with the lack of opponent, Yusei felt a familiar thrill, a sweet rush of adrenaline that he hadn’t felt in a long time. To face a worthy opponent in a duel, clashing with skill and strength, neither party holding back in the slightest…

Being a normal duelist was great, but what would it be like to be a psychic? To duel with such incredible power that the very monsters you summon are real, breathing creatures? To duel a fellow psychic and have a true all-out duel? What was it like to be a _duel monster_?

“Aki,” Yusei started. The redhead turned to him, and he felt Black Rose tilt her head to look as well. “What does it feel like? To summon and fight with real duel monsters?”

Aki smiled. “If summoning them feels like breaking heavy chains, then actually fighting with them is escaping the prison altogether.” Black Rose cried out with a musical call, and as if she had received some unspoken order, she unfurled her massive wings, crouched, and leapt into the air. Yusei had to scramble to find a handhold to not fall off, and the pair flew around the arena. Yusei had never flown before, and his first flight was on the back of a dragon!

“How fast can she go?” Yusei called out over the rush of wind and rustling petals.

“I don’t know!” Aki yelled back. “I’ve never ridden her outside before!” Yusei pointedly looked up at the skylight, and Aki followed his gaze. They lowered their eyes to meet again. “Divine will be furious if we did that!”

“About the damage or the fact that we’re on a dragon outside?”

“Both!”

Yusei smiled mischievously. “Just a part of your training, right? What better way to arrive and leave a fight than on your ace monster?”

Aki paused and blinked at him a couple of times, then returned his smile. “You are a terrible influence!”

“I do what I can!”

Black Rose cried out again, this time with more power, and aimed up. She breathed dark flames at the glass, reducing it to nothing, and flew through the hole, her flock of children in tow. “Full throttle!” Aki shouted, and Black Rose roared. Her wings flared, the petals shifting until they were locked together for a sleeker surface. The Rose Dragon babies nestled in with the two duelists, and Black Rose launched forward.

Yusei and Aki shouted mock war cries in tandem with the baby Rose Dragons, cheering Black Rose on. The mighty dragon was agile despite the speed, turning fluidly and darting back and forth around the skyscrapers. With the roar of the wind, the dragons, and Aki all around him, Yusei felt a thrill unlike any other blazing through his veins. This was a wondrous taste of true freedom – soaring through the skies on the back of a powerful, dear dragon friend with no destination in mind. No chains locking them to the ground, no horrible thoughts clouding their minds. Just the thrill of speed and the guiltless audacity to reach for the heavens.

But, like most things, this excursion had to end at some point. It was a gradual slow down, starting with the baby Rose Dragons fading away, returning to wherever Aki had called them from. Then Black Rose herself was slowing down, panting heavily. It was all she and Aki could to to return the duelists back to the arena safely. Once Yusei’s feet were on the ground, Black Rose vanished, leaving him to catch her exhausted duelist. Aki was trembling, sweating, and a little pale from the energy poured into it all, but she was grinning like a fool.

“I think we both had a lot of fun,” Yusei said with a smile. “Don’t you?” Aki just nodded weakly.

The double doors to the arena slammed open, making Yusei jump; Aki could only manage a twitch. Divine and Viscora were heading their way, and Divine looked _furious_. “Where have you two been for the past three hours?!” he demanded.

“Uhm…flying?” Yusei answered hesitantly.

“Flying?” Divine repeated. “What do you mean flying?”

Yusei shifted his grip on Aki. “We were riding on Black Rose Dragon’s back.”

The master psychic’s expression grew darker, and Viscora sighed. “Aki,” he growled, and she flinched. “You know better than to use your powers in such a blatantly wasteful way.”

Viscora put a hand on Divine’s shoulder, halting whatever rant he’d prepared. “Leave it out,” she said. “They’re teens. Let ‘em have their fun.”

“Their ‘fun’ could put everything in danger,” he retorted.

Viscora’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and Yusei took a step back. “We’re psychics, Divine,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically level. “The common person will be scared shitless of us regardless of how we present ourselves. _Let the kids have their fun_.”

Divine jerked his shoulder free from her grasp, but didn’t argue. Viscora continued, “It’s best they get it out of their systems now, yea? There’s nothing hella important for them to focus on right now.” Divine turned on his heel and stalked away.

The three watched him leave, then Viscora sighed again. “Don’t y’all worry ‘bout his tantrum – I’ll see to him later. C’mon.” With Yusei walking at her side, the large woman led him from the arena and into a smaller room attached to it. Five strange, large pod-like things were waiting, dark and empty with their glass lids raised.

“What are these?” Yusei asked.

“Psychic recovery pods,” Viscora answered. “They’re built to attune to psychic energies and rejuvenate through sleep. Lay her down in one and I’ll get it booted up.”

Yusei moved to the pod in the middle and carefully laid Aki down. Viscora reached in and attached sensors to Aki’s forehead and temples, then slid the lid down. With the touch of a button, a helmet descended to cover Aki’s face, and a holographic display spread out across the glass.

“What does all of this mean?” Yusei asked.

Viscora smiled tiredly. “It’s all the sensory stuff. Tells me vitals and how much psychic energy she’s got left.” She looked across the display. “The girl’s gonna be down for a while – she used a lot of energy to entertain your bitchass.” Despite the snark, the smile and humor didn’t reach her eyes; now that Yusei was looking, what was once a striking emerald had dulled considerably.

Yusei shuffled closer. “Are you okay?”

Viscora’s smile dropped, and she shook her head. “A couple of new developments that we’re not quite ready for but have to confront anyways.”

Yusei frowned. “Is Divine taking it out on you?”

The pink-haired woman snorted. “Hardly. He’s just throwin' a tantrum because he’s not being given a choice about somethin’ he hates.”

“What does he hate so much?”

Viscora smirked, and a glimmer returned to her eyes. “Who, actually. An old friend of mine and Dr. Absentia's comin' to visit – Harald.”


	12. New Friends of the Unusual Sort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harald comes into play, and Jack finds a different way to redeem himself for past mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of cuts here but none of it was able to be posted by itself whoops but here ya go :}
> 
> also we have some potent gore in this one so beware

Yusei and Aki peeked into Dr. Absentia’s office. Standing in front of Viscora was a silver-haired man, not much shorter than she was, but notably leaner. His back was turned to the door, away from the teens’ prying eyes.

“How are things at the manor?” Viscora asked – she looked much better than she had the other day.

“To be expected,” the stranger – Harald – answered. “Nothing particularly exciting to you, I’m sure.”

“Boo, you whore.”

Harald shook his head. “I’ve been traveling across the world, following where my visions take me. I’ve no time to entertain house guests of any sort.” Viscora mock pouted, but didn’t push the topic. “Speaking of said visions, that’s why I’m here. I’m also formally and politely asking you to stay out of my way.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Viscora whined. “It could be like old times. Besides, if you’re here for the person I think you are, I could help you do a much better job.”

“In the short term, perhaps,” Harald said sternly. “But in the long term, you are what many would consider a liability.”

Viscora leaned back against the wall with a sudden solemnness. “…still don’t trust me.”

“Would _you_ trust you?”

“Dragan does.”

Harald scoffed. “His trust in you is anomalous to say the least-”

“ _Is it?_ ”

Harald tensed at the venom in Viscora’s voice, then his shoulders dropped. “That was out of line,” he said quietly. “I know you two are close.” He regained his composure. “But my point remains – the longer the task, the more hindering you tend to be.”

“This time’s different,” Viscora argued.

“How so?”

“I’m not operatin’ under a thick shroud of apathy and boredom,” she replied. “Savin’ people’s nice and all, but where’s the fun in it? They’re not even grateful we were there – I’m a freak of nature and you’re a walking portent of doom.” She gave him a sharp grin. “But this? This is pushin’ the envelope! This is discoverin’ somethin’ new and dark and uncharted!”

“And _that_ ,” Harald sighed, “is why I do not entirely trust you. Not with this.” Viscora pouted. “Your enthusiasm for discovery is admirable, but here it is gravely misplaced. If we don’t handle this with the utmost care, we could very well sign the world’s death warrant.”

“Would that really be so bad?” Viscora asked darkly. “Ain’t like it wants people like us here anyway.”

Harald shook his head. “You’ve been around Divine for too long; he’s corrupting you with his own misguided views of humanity.” He crossed his arms. “You used to be so much more, Viscora. What happened to that?”

Viscora dropped her head, letting the shadows obscure her eyes. “I gazed into the abyss,” she replied cryptically, “and it gazed back.”

“And consumed your soul?”

A smile ghosted across her lips. “My soul was lost well before that.”

Harald didn’t seem amused. “And yet your soul shadow remains by your side.” Yusei finally shared a look with Aki, who just shrugged at it all. When they looked back into the room, golden and emerald eyes alike were trained on them. Both teens jumped and yelped, accidentally knocking the door shut, and quickly scrambled away.

“Y’all seem to be getting’ awfully close,” Viscora observed. Yusei spared her glance and a nod as Abby continued to wind her way around his arms and torso. Her tongue was flickering every couple of seconds, and her coils were just firm enough around him to let her move. She was certainly an impressive size for a snake, over one hundred and fifty pounds and over ten feet long. “Can’t remember the last time someone other than me handled her like that.”

“She’s a good girl,” Yusei remarked. Abby turned her head at his words to stare at him. “You raised her well.”

Viscora smiled. “Burmese are normally laid back, but she’s typically a no-touch kind of snake.” Yusei chuckled a little when Abby yawned – seeing a snake yawn was cute.

Finally, Viscora mock-groaned. “Okay, little man, I’ll bite. What’s botherin’ ya?”

Yusei glanced at her, then back to Abby. “Was that man your friend?” he asked. “Harald?”

Viscora nodded. “Yeah. Two of us go way back. Met back in…not sure when exactly.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Not quite relevant I think. Was there anything you wanted to know specifically?”

Several questions jumped to mind, but Yusei picked the one that stood out the most. “Why is he here?” Yusei asked. Her expression dropped. “He said he was doing something and wanted you to stay out of it. What’s he doing?”

Viscora looked to the computer monitor beside her for a moment, then looked back at him with a resoluteness he wasn’t expecting. “Something you should know about Harald,” she began, “is that he’s got a real fancy ability.” She tapped beneath her left eye. “You ever see this eye glow on him, he’s seein’ a vision of the future as it stands now.”

“Seeing the future?” Yusei was amazed – was Harald a psychic, too?

“Yep.” Viscora moved to lean against the wall and crossed her arms. “He’s had that power for as long as I’ve known him. We were among the first members of the Arcadia Movement, too.”

“Really?”

Viscora nodded. “I wanted to join because I wanted to see the variety of psychics, see how strong we could be. Harald wanted to help others.” She snorted. “Of course, Harald and Divine both are hard-headed idiots, so they clashed eventually.”

“Why?”

“Different ideas for helpin’ people,” Viscora answered simply. “Divine wanted to focus on psychics, Harald wanted to help anyone who needed it. So Harald left to pursue his visions and help who he could.” She shrugged. “Harald thinks Divine’s an asshole, and Divine’s never forgiven him for leavin’.”

Yusei stared at Abby, who stared right back. “Then his visions have brought him back here?” Viscora nodded. “What was his vision?”

Viscora shrugged again. “Dunno. He wouldn’t tell me anythin’ concrete. Although, if I had to hazard a guess,” she fixed her eyes on Yusei, “he’s probably here for you.”

“Me? Why?”

Viscora raised a brow. “Well, either you do somethin’ that puts a lot of people in danger, or puts him in danger.”

Yusei matched Viscora’s expression. “If I’m a threat to him, why is he here?” he asked. “Wouldn’t he want to stay as far from me as possible?”

“Like I said, hard-headed idiot,” Viscora chuckled. “But he was on the other side of the world when this vision hit him, so maybe stayin’ away wouldn’t’ve mattered.” She looked at the monitor again. “Guess we’ll know when he gets the next one, won’t we?”

Yusei furrowed his brows. “I thought you said he wasn’t telling you?”

The older woman smirked at him. “Not about the one that brought him here, no, but between me and Divine, I’ll be the one he talks to about any he has here.”

The back alleys of New Domino were dark and quiet, even with the traffic happening just beyond them. It was a stark change from the bright and gleaming and the dim and trash-ridden; it reminded Jack of Satellite enough to soothe some of his nerves. _Never thought I’d be comforted by thoughts of Satellite_ the blonde used to himself. Hidden from the world, Jack let his thoughts run their courses.

While the Phoenix Whirlwind was an impressive machine, riding it made Jack’s skin crawl. Director Goodwin had it built for Jack in part to let him roam around the city easier to find Yusei faster, and partly to help cement Jack’s ‘cover story’. The current King of Turbo Duels, one Hunter Pace, was apparently starting to bore New Domino citizens with his general behavior and attitude and Goodwin had every intention of Jack usurping the throne.

That had been part of the deal – to be given the chance to take the crown and sit at the top of it all. Now, Jack wondered if the chance had ever existed. He couldn’t imagine Goodwin as someone who left things up to mere possibility; if the old man wanted Jack as the new King, then he’d make it so without the option of failure.

But what made the Phoenix Whirlwind so uncomfortable was the undeniable similarities it bore to that duel runner blueprint Yusei had sketched up. If Jack was recalling it right, it was basically an exact match, like Goodwin’s lackeys had taken the print for this purpose when they raided the hideout. But it carried a different name then, one much more symbolic that Yusei had decided on long before the sketch was completed – Wheel of Fortune. Jack knew next to nothing about tarot, but he had looked it up when he had the chance.

Upright, the Wheel of Fortune meant good luck, karma, the life cycle, and destiny. Reversed, it meant bad luck, resistance to change, and breaking cycles. Yusei had probably known about the meanings beforehand and likely intended the more positive symbolism, but he meant for the runner to belong to Jack. Had he viewed Jack as a catalyst for good change? How much hope for the future had Yusei placed in him?

Thinking about how he’d failed always made Jack’s resolve waver, but now it made it stronger. He failed before, yes, but now he was going to make it right. He just had to find Yusei first.

That plan was much easier said than done, because even if Jack had the location of the Arcadia Movement’s main base of operations, he didn’t have anyway of getting in. He wasn’t anything special, not like Yusei or a psychic was. How was he supposed to talk Yusei out of staying with this Movement if he couldn’t reach him?

Perhaps the Director had that covered, too – there was to be a tournament soon, one that would give the duelists of New Domino City the change to challenge Pace and take the title of King. If what Goodwin was saying about Divine was correct, then someone from the Movement may be there to represent, and a psychic with the crown could help the Movement immensely. If that group was putting stakes in the tournament, then Yusei might be with their representative when they came to duel and thus give Jack the opening he needed. But that would also mean Yusei would be far too close to Goodwin for Jack’s liking on top of the concern of Goodwin spying on their conversation. They would be on the Director’s home turf, after all.

Suddenly, Jack stopped in his tracks. Down at his feet was splattered blood, and its metallic smell was far too strong. His eyes wandered up ahead, bouncing from splotch to pool to smear, until the red disappeared into the alley just beyond. Slowly, Jack crept forward, careful to avoid stepping into the clearly still wet fluid all around him. As he inched closer, he heard a sort of squelching sound, like something thick and wet was being torn apart. It made his skin crawl, but he pressed on.

Finally, at the very edge of the wall, Jack peeked around it. There was a blur of movement, but his eyes weren’t fast enough for details, only fast enough to track it behind a dumpster. But what the creature left behind was a gruesome scene. In the middle of the dead end alley was the body of a man who looked far older than Jack, the ribcage itself bared to the world. Something had torn at the flesh until the organs and bones were exposed, and the tear went down into the abdomen, the intestines pulled free of their confines. The ribs themselves were bloody and broken, the pieces scattered around the body.

Jack stepped closer, his eyes flicking between the victim and the space the creature had run to. With a new perspective, the blonde could see into the wound. The chest cavity itself was mostly empty save for the blood vessel ends. The abdomen still retained organs, but they were in pieces, clawed at and bitten from. The only thought still in Jack’s head was _No animal could have done this._ What animal in a city could do this to a person?

The blonde looked to the hiding spot and moved closer, giving it a wide berth as he did so. Curled up and pressed against the wall was a small child with bright green hair pulled back in a ponytail. Haltingly, the child looked up, revealing yellow eyes and a thick trail of blood from their mouth down, soaking through most of their blue shirt. In the tense silence, Jack noted how gaunt the child was, their eyes and cheeks somewhat sunken.

“I…I’m sorry…” the child whimpered. They curled up again. “I couldn’t stop myself…I was…I was just so hungry…”

Jack’s brain was misfiring – _Yusei wasn’t alone_ – and his mouth moved of its own accord. “You’re like him,” he said.

The child’s head shot back up with a look of total shock. “Like him? Like who?”

Jack blinked and forced himself back into reality. “A…an old friend of mine.” Jack knelt down and the child scooted closer. “He’s like you, he eats…human flesh, like you just did.”

“Was he hungry like me?”

Jack nodded. “It took us a long time before we figured out what he needed.”

The child shifted a bit. “Is your friend a good person?”

The blonde nodded again. “Hurting people always made him unhappy, but he does his best.” Something flashed, and then thunder rolled across the sky, startling the kid into huddling against Jack. While he grimaced at the red stains his coat would undoubtedly have, he didn’t push the kid away. Instead, Jack sighed and asked, “Where do you live? Best to get out of the storm’s way.”

Silently, the kid pointed in a direction, but made no move to stand. Jack just shrugged and picked the kid up, earning a squeak of surprise. “Keep facing me,” the blonde said. “Make sure no one sees the mess on you.” Speaking of, something would need to be done about that body…

Another problem for another time, Jack decided, and he started walking where the kid had pointed. “I’m Jack. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Rua,” came the soft reply. The kid nuzzled into Jack’s chest and held tight, yelping when a thunderclap sounded loudly overhead. A few cold drops of rain splashed onto Jack’s face, and he stopped to readjust Rua to hide him under his coat as much as he could. _Shirt’s gone, too._ As they made their way through the alleys, the lack of weight in his arms unsettled Jack – he was strong, sure, but this kid was far too light for his liking.

It reminded him a lot of when he’d moved Yusei to the bed; maybe he’d weighed about as much as the boy in his arms did.

Thankfully, it seemed Jack and Rua weren’t the only ones unprepared for the weather. Everyone was rushed around them, too busy with getting to shelter to pay them any mind. Jack followed Rua’s mumbled directions – apparently he felt warm, full, and safe enough to start dozing off – and made it to a rather impressive apartment complex. He gazed at it long enough to remember it before walking inside.

The lobby was rather nice, warm colors that were easy on his eyes. At the desk between four elevators sat an older, heavyset lady who was humming softly to herself as she went about her tasks. She noticed Jack very quickly. “Oh, hello, young man,” she greeted cheerfully. Jack gave her a nod of acknowledgment, and Rua stirred in his arms, mumbling an unintelligible string of words. She took note of the boy in his arms and lit up happily. “Oh! You must be the twins’ new keeper, aren’t you?” Jack nodded again – if this woman was giving him an excuse, why correct her? _Wait, twins?_

The kind lady puttered over to him and accompanied him to the elevator. “You are a sight for sore eyes indeed, young man,” she said. “You would not believe how concerned I’ve been for these two. Their parents have left them alone here more and more often. Just this year, they’ve only been in town _twice_! For only a couple of days to boot! Can you believe that?”

Jack frowned at the information. “That sounds like neglect.”

“One would think,” the kind lady agreed, “but their parents are all kinds of influential. No one here dares try to call it in for fear they’ll be done away with by their employers!”

“Have you tried?” Jack asked.

The kind lady nodded sadly. “I have, but I was simply told nothing would come of it and to not try again.” She slid a keycard of some sort into Jack’s hand, both careful not to disturb Rua. “I try to look after them myself, but the tenants here can be brutal when they don’t get their way within two seconds of deciding what they want.” She sighed and ushered Jack forward into the waiting elevator. “Just so you know, that card is for identification – authorization to access the penthouse.”

Whatever else the lady was going to say was drowned out by a pair of very angry voices shouting for someone named Molly. The lady sighed again, one of suffering, but put another smile on. “That’s my call. I do hope you do right by these children; they’re too young to know what it’s like to not have anyone looking out for them.”

With that, she turned away just as the doors closed, and left Jack holding a too-small sleeping child and wondering what the hell was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone's just trying their best at this point 
> 
> well, not everyone but we'll get there


	13. Face to Face With an Apex Predator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunted are confronted with the hunters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this chapter's a bit more Jack-Rua-Ruka focused than i meant for it to be but oh well :}

_A laboratory. White and clinical and cold. Has he been here before? Yes, this place is familiar._

_Alarms are sounding the distance. Echoing and wailing. He knows this alarm, too. Something’s gotten loose._

_He’s running. Down a hall. Turn sharp. Down another hall. His legs and lungs burn. He keeps going._

_The hallways are dark. The lights are shattered. Glass crunches under his feet. Keep going, keep going!_

_A room with light pouring out. Blue light, computer light. He slides to a stop in the doorway. He freezes at the sight before him_

_He’s too late._

_His friend, his dear friend, is dead. She’s lying lifeless on the floor. Blood pools around her, absorbing the splatters. Her killer is hunched over her, gnawing at her insides like a feral, ravenous beast._

_It pays him no mind as it feeds. It tears her flesh, breaks her bones. He can’t move anymore. Her head lolls to the side to face him._

_She sees him and smiles._

“Bitch, _breathe!_ ”

Harald jerked and gasped, his reflexive flailing cut short by strong arms. Viscora held him close and firm until he regained control. His breathing was heavy, his eye burned fiercely. And that gruesome image was imprinted in his mind’s eye. He fell limp against her – visions with emotional weight always exhausted him.

For the first time in over a decade, his foresight had been sudden. Normally there would be mild indicators; blurry vision in his left eye, lack of balance, a sense of lethargy. This vision came with no warning and dragged him under just as-

Harald forced his eyes open. “Where’s- where’s Yusei and Aki?” he rasped. His voice was shot?

Viscora sighed and loosened her grip around him. “You get out of a screamer and you’re all about carin’ for others,” she mildly scolded. She easily turned his body to let her pick him up and she started carrying him from the small space. “They’re fine. They’re worried for you, obviously, though Divine’s a little miffed you had one that bad in front of them.” Viscora rolled her eyes in the most exaggerated manner she could. “He’s not happy with me right now, either – tellin’ him to fuck himself ‘was not appropriate’ in front of Yusei and Aki. Egh.”

Harald would have commented, but his throat as raw and throbbed terribly, so he kept his mouth shut. He did feel a little guilty, however; if the vision had elicited such a visceral reaction from him, he likely had terrified those two. They needed a proper apology later.

At any rate, Viscora carried him into the room she had designated for him – one painted in tones of silver – and laid him down on the bed. “Stay put,” she ordered gently. “I’ll get you some water and make sure you didn’t traumatize anyone. Also!” She looked over her shoulder. “Massage your jaw for me – you clamped down pretty hard towards the end there.” She swept out of the room, muttering to herself about something.

Harald laid there, motionless aside from his breathing, and his eye twitched. He could see the glow from it on his pillow, and he groaned inwardly – surely he wasn’t going to have two back to back? He curled into a ball and buried his head as the world around him faded away.

_Everything was wet. The air was moist and held no odor. He was coated in some sort of warm, thick slime and it made him shiver as it seeped through his clothes. All around him, something pressed again him, moving in waves along his body, pushing him further into its grasp._

_He struggled and squirmed, but his arms were pinned to his sides and his legs were no better. All his resistance got him was the living walls constricting, squeezing him until his precious breath left his lungs. Only when he stopped moving did the pressure lift, and he was pushed deeper in._

_After what felt like eternity, the tube of flesh ended. He was being forced into some sort of pocket, and it easily stretched to accommodate. Even when he pushed and jabbed at the walls, they just bounced back, giving no indication of pain._

_When he was entirely entrapped, he heard a voice. It babbled incoherently; it sounded like someone crying. Did he know this voice? “I’m sorry!” the voice cried out. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”_

When the world faded back in, Harald’s vision was beyond unfocused, but there was weight on his wrists. He blinked rapidly, trying to force his eyes to right themselves. He strained against whatever was holding him down, but it held far too firm.

Something thick and wet dripped onto and down his cheek. Harald froze, and his eyes finally let him see. Yusei was pinning him to the bed, his azure eyes entirely dead and drool leaking from his lips. Those lips were curling back to reveal his teeth, which looked much sharper than they had earlier. Yusei’s jaw popped loudly out of place, and he leaned down.

If Jack had to describe the penthouse in a word, it would be lonely. Despite the wealth, despite the fact that it was for a family of four, despite the fact that two children lived there full time, it was practically barren. There were no family photos, or really any photos at all; just fancy paintings that made sense to Jack regardless of how long he looked at them. The only indication that children, or anyone really, lived here at all was the fresh fruit on the counter.

Jack carried Rua inside, and was almost immediately set upon by a strange brown puffball. It screeched at him and its large eyes were only vaguely menacing. Behind it, it had a rat’s tail with a big red bow on it. It made the noise again and Jack swatted at it. “Shut up,” he hissed. The puffball stopped and stared at him, even as he moved past it.

First things first, find the bathroom and run a bath. It wasn’t hard to find, but the puffball was getting annoying, trilling and bouncing from side to side no matter how he tried to shoo it away. Rua was awake, and when he took off his stained shirt, Jack froze. Although the fact that the boy’s bones were hauntingly obvious, his entire torso was covered in scars. Long thin ones, short thick ones, small red circles – remnants of a variety of injuries. What had this poor boy been subjected to?

“Don’t tell Ruka.” Jack broke his stare to look up. Rua had his head bowed and turned away. “She doesn’t know. Don’t tell her.”

Jack’s frown deepened, but he didn’t outwardly object. He stood up. “Get yourself clean. I’ll be right back.” Rua nodded, and Jack left the bathroom.

No sooner had he shut the door that something struck the inside of his right knee. He hissed a swear under his breath and jerked back, bracing against the wall to favor his leg, and found who he could only assume to be Ruka standing there with a frying pan in her hands. The brown puffball squeaked and brought its clawed paws up like it wanted to cover its mouth.

“Who are you?” the girl demanded, and Jack had to admire the bravery. Her voice and her arms were shaking, but she was still going to fight him off if she had to.

“Jack. According to the woman in the lobby, I’m you and your brother’s ‘keeper’,” the blonde replied. “I brought Rua back- would you shut up?!” The puffball had been squeaking nonstop and only quieted when Jack swatted at it again over the girl’s head. There was a clatter, and Jack looked down to see Ruka had dropped the pan to gape at him. “What?”

“Y...you can hear…and see Kuribon?” she asked slowly. Jack pointed at the puffball for clarification, and she nodded.

He huffed. “I wish I couldn’t – this thing’s been annoying me since I walked in.” Kuribon started squeaking excitedly again, and he glared at it to no effect. “Is it with you?”

Ruka nodded and he watched her light up. “I’ve never met anyone else who can see or hear duel spirits! How long have you been able to do it? I’ve been able to see them for as long as I can remember.”

Aside from this aggravating ball of fur, Jack couldn’t recall ever interacting with a ‘duel spirit’, but… “I think I’ve had dreams with them,” Jack answered hesitantly.

Ruka bounced a little. “So have I! What was yours about? I was in the Spirit Worlds to talk to them.”

Jack pushed off the wall, the pain subsiding in his knee. “We can talk about all this in a bit.” Ruka deflated, so he added, “Rua’s taking a bath and we should probably get him something to change into. Plus, I want to check on something.”

“What is the something?” Ruka asked as she led Jack down the hall.

“The reason why Rua has to take a bath,” Jack replied vaguely. “It was…quite the mess, and…someone would be very angry to find it left there.” _That was s_ _mooth...I hope._

To Jack’s relief, Ruka nodded. “Yeah, that would make someone mad.” She slowed just before a blue door and turned to ask, “Did our parents really send you?”

Jack sighed. “No, but I wasn’t going to leave Rua out there alone, and knowing you both are alone all the time didn’t sit right with me.”

The young girl nodded again. “The ones Mom and Dad sent weren’t good for him. They didn’t want to try to understand him. Since he’s gotten sick, they had even less patience for him.”

Jack set his jaw as his blood started to boil – were those sitters the causes of the scars? “What do you mean they had no patience for him?”

Ruka shrugged. “It just…they always seemed to expect him to mess up or something, but still got mad when he did. Or whenever they told him to do something and he did it wrong. They weren’t gentle, and they didn’t explain things to him.” She frowned. “They were never like that with me, though.” The little girl opened the door and flicked on the light. Like the door, the room was very blue – blue bed, blue walls, blue blinds for the window. There were posters all over the walls and figures littering the shelves.

In comparison to the rest of the rooms’ sizes so far, this one seemed tiny, and the way Ruka paused made Jack wonder if she just had the same thought. She went in anyway and rifled through his brother’s dresser, mumbling about how she needed to help him reorganize again, and went back to the bathroom with Jack in tow.

Jack made sure to knock loudly before entering, and he just caught sight of Rua shaking his head like a dog, spraying water everywhere. In the boy’s defense, he did look sheepish at realizing he’d been caught, but Jack didn’t do much more than just quirk a brow at him. “Here,” the blonde said, laying the pajamas down on a dry part of the sink. “Change into these when you’re done.”

“Thank you.”

Jack nodded. “There’s something I need to take care of, so you and your sister will be here by yourselves for a few minutes.” Rua bobbed his head in acknowledgment; he knew exactly what Jack was talking about. Before he left, Jack added, “Also, Ruka wants to organize your dresser with you.” The groan he got in response made him smile a little.

Not wearing his white coat felt wrong, but with the blood on it, Jack had to change into something else. Ruka hadn’t made any mention of it, though, and that lack of comment made Jack wonder why she had overlooked it. At any rate, there had been a selection of them in the master bedroom, and he let Ruka pick one out for him to borrow until he could clean his. The one she picked wasn’t as long as Jack’s, but it was a beautiful shade of purple and she had picked it “because our father never wore it”.

How unaware of it all was Ruka really?

Jack had to shake the thoughts from his mind – he had one hell of a mess to clean up somehow. He retraced his steps; the rain was still pouring down, leaving the streets thankfully sparse still. The smell of wet garbage hardly bothered the blonde, but the closer he got to the scene, the more unsettled he became. Rain could wash blood away, but not that much that quickly. In fact, with a sharper eye, the alleys were looking much too clean.

Jack rounded the corner to where the body should be, and froze. Not only was the body gone, but there was someone standing there in its place. It was a woman as tall as he was, holding an umbrella and scanning the area with a strange purple light. She was muscular as well, her black clothing fitting her form well and leaving her arms and midriff exposed. Silver spikes adorned her neck, biceps, and the heels and toes of her boots. When she turned to face him, her thick pink braid swished like a tail, and her green eyes glowed in the dark.

“Hello, Atlas,” the woman greeted. Her smile was sharp and malicious, making every hair on the back of Jack’s neck rise and sending chills down his spine. She clicked her light off and tucked it into a pocket. “I think the two of us need to have a little chat, don’t you?”

“Who the hell are you?” Jack demanded. “Where’s-” He caught himself before he could finish.

The woman laughed. “Don’t worry. The body’s been seen to and disposed of.” She sauntered closer, and it felt like the air around Jack was getting thick with humidity. It was hard to breathe. “I’m Durviir. Viscora Durviir.”

“How do you know my name?” Jack asked.

“So many questions,” Viscora mock lamented, then she giggled. “I know you because I keep an eye on our dear Director Goodwin.”

Jack crossed his arms. “Don’t like him much, then.”

It wasn’t a question, but Viscora nodded anyway. “Goodwin’s a bitch, and it would be a shame if someone like you was kept under his thumb.” Her smile was suddenly much more terrifying, and Jack didn’t know how to respond. “See, I happen to know enough about you that I know you’re probably lookin’ for a certain somebody. A certain somebody I could help you meet up with if you’re interested.”

Jack crossed his arms and scowled. “How do I know you’re not trying to play me for a fool?” Viscora responded by slipped a card from her deck and showing it to him – Red Dragon Archfiend. “Where did you get that?!”

“Little man was sleepin’ when I left, so I borrowed in on the off-chance I’d catch you,” Viscora replied. “Since you gave it to him, showin’ it to you seemed like a good way to prove my words.”

Jack was beyond wary of this strange woman – there was something Not Right about her – but this could be the best chance he would get to see Yusei again. “…fine. I believe you.”

Viscora tucked the dragon back into her deck and put her hand on her hip. “If you don’t mind my askin’, but who exactly was the one eatin’ here? ‘Cause I really doubt it was you.”

Reflex said _don’t tell her anything_ , but if Yusei was still alive… “Let me see Yusei first,” Jack said. Viscora raised her brows at him. “I want to make sure he’s okay. If he’s fine, then I’ll tell you.”

The woman shrugged with a grin that was only slightly less shiver-inducing. “Sounds fair to me. When are you free?”


	14. Apologies and Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A better look at Viscora's true colors, how her priorities are stacked, and where her loyalties really lay.

Never before had Harald received a vision he could do nothing about, or a vision that came to pass moments after being received. Since his youth, from the very first time he gazed into the future, Harald had always had time to plan and the ability to act counter to the event he witnessed. Maybe that had been his downfall, lulling him into a false sense of security. The future was always shifting, constantly in flux with every decision made, every action taken. Would it not make sense that the future could change on a dime?

As the muscles of Yusei’s maw consumed him, Harald felt an odd sense of tranquility. He didn’t feel the same panic he had in the vision – was it the fact he had foreseen it at all that granted him this peace? He closed his eyes, not that the darkness of Yusei’s insides would allow him to see anyway, and stayed steady. This would not be his fate; surely there was still a way to change it.

The feeling of being swallowed for real was far more intense than the vision allowed Harald to feel. The ripple of the flesh around him was far stronger, rings of muscle gripping and shoving him deeper. The feeling of wetness was the same though, as the thick, protective slime soaked him thoroughly. Inside, the rumbling of Yusei’s stomach was pronounced, sounding more like a roar than a grumble. Yusei’s pulse was far more notable now as well as a steady background rhythm.

Pain shot up the soothsayer’s arms – they were being pressed to his sides at odd angles. Harald struggled to right them, and the same compression occurred. All around him, the muscles squeezed with shocking strength, worsening the pain in his arms and forcing the air from his lungs. This was a strangle-hold, preventing Harald from taking even the smallest breath. But, before unconsciousness could take him, the fleshy walls eased their vice grip to resume shoving him into the belly of the man-eating beast. The air he breathed in was damp and held no true odor of its own, despite what one might think.

Suddenly, Yusei jolted, the muscles constricting again but to a much lesser degree. Choked noises flooded the empty space as Yusei shifted back and forth. Deeper still Harald was pushed, until he hit a dead end – the stomach. The organ easily stretched to let Yusei’s prey fit inside, its muscled walls pressing against Harald and coating him further with slime. Finally, the soothsayer was fully tucked into the cramped space, curled up into himself as the stomach pressed on him.

Harald felt the shudders of Yusei’s body and lungs as the teen recovered from his ordeal. The telltale sounds of sobbing sounded from all around Harald, and he felt Yusei gripping his belly. “I’m sorry,” Yusei cried. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t want to… I didn’t mean to…! I just couldn’t control myself!” Softer, he said, “Please still be alive, please still be alive…”

“I’m alive,” Harald rasped, and he winced at the ragged feeling in his throat. His voice was broken and quiet; any more strain and he’d lose it completely.

Yusei gasped. “Harald! Harald, I’m so sorry! I didn’t want this, I promise!”

Harald winced at the volume – his head felt like it was seconds from imploding. His eye was burning for the third time, and he opened both eyes. All around him, embedded in the walls of Yusei’s stomach, were lights. Pale blue lights that almost twinkled like the stars in the night sky. Harald’s gaze danced around, but he found no rhyme or reason for them. His first reaction was to ask, but he doubted Yusei knew they were there, let alone why.

“Aki!” Yusei exclaimed suddenly. “Aki, please, go get Viscora! I need her!” Aki spoke in return, but Harald couldn’t hear her words clear enough. “I…it was an accident, I couldn’t control myself, but I…I swallowed Harald and I don’t know if I can get him back out before something happens.” The young psychic girl responded again. “Thank you, Aki. Please hurry.”

Quiet followed, broken only by Yusei’s soft crying. This response seemed genuine to Harald, and the way the teen’s eyes had looked convinced him further that this was not Yusei’s fault. Not entirely, at least. But then that begged several questions. Why had Yusei gone after Harald if this was his reaction to doing so? Unfortunately, flat out asking was beyond Harald at the moment, but perhaps Viscora could get the answers.

Viscora. Oh, she was going to have a field day with this. Harald settled for groaning inwardly; she was never going to let him live this down.

“Ms. Durviir!” Aki skidded to stop, nearly crashing into the tall woman. “Ms. Durviir, Yusei needs you right now!”

“What. Okay-” Aki didn’t let her finish, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her from the elevator and down the various halls. “Woah, woah, little lady – what’s goin’ on?”

Aki didn’t reply; she knew she didn’t have the full story and didn’t know how to put what she did know into words. So she just kept pulling on the older psychic’s arm until they were at Harald’s door. Aki threw it open. Yusei hadn’t moved at all, and he flinched at the sudden flood of light. Behind her, Aki heard Durviir inhale sharply.

Durviir pushed past Aki and knelt beside Yusei. “What happened, little man?” she asked, her eyes settling on his swollen belly. She looked around the room, specifically at the bed, and Aki saw every muscle in the older lady’s body tense. “Where is…?”

“I’m sorry,” Yusei whimpered. “I’m so sorry…” Durviir stared at him in shock. “I wasn’t in control, and I couldn’t stop it when I was. I’m sorry.”

The pink-haired woman blinked at him, then physically shook her head. “You…you ate Harald?”

“It was an accident!”

Durviir pulled Yusei close as his crying turned into sobs. “Shush, little man, I believe you. I do.” She took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, this is fixable.” She lifted Yusei’s face to make him meet her gaze. “First, I need to ask you a couple of things, okay?” Yusei nodded. “You just said you weren’t in control. What do you mean by that?”

“Something…like something was moving my body without me,” Yusei replied. “My body wasn’t listening to me. I was…I was just along for the ride.”

Durviir frowned. “That’s not great. Have you ever had that happen before or is this a first?”

“A first.”

That frown deepened. “Then I have my doubts about it bein’ your hunger. Did anything else happen this evenin’? Anythin’ out of the ordinary?”

Yusei paused. “I…would…would weird dreams count?”

“Absolutely. Can’t rule anythin’ out here.”

Yusei pawed at his face. “I don’t normally remember dreams, but this one was…it was different. It was just someone chanting the same phrase over and over again.”

Durviir’s head tilted to the just the right angle for deep shadows to move over her eyes, and their cold glow made Aki want to flee the room. “What phrase was that?”

Yusei startled at the dark tone in her voice, but answered anyway. “I…I couldn’t hear it all…but it was something about…chaining the mind to unleash the body? I think?”

The glow grew brighter, lightening to lime green rather than emerald. “Yeah, that’ll do it,” Durviir muttered. In a fluid motion, Durviir braced her arms under Yusei and hefted him up into the air. Yusei flailed at the sudden action, then groaned as the weight in his stomach shifted in turn.

“Okay, lemme tell you what’s goin’ down,” Durviir said. She started walking, carrying Yusei back to the elevator, and Aki almost had to jog to keep up. “I can fix this, both gettin’ Harald out safe and puttin’ an end to whatever the fuck this was that made you eat him.” Yusei nodded along. “But, when I get you down to the lab, I’m gonna have to have you asleep for it.”

“Asleep?” Yusei repeated.

Durviir nodded. “It’ll be awfully painful for you to be awake for it.” Aki pressed the button for the labs – Basement Level 5. “But don’t worry. Puttin’ you to sleep and wakin’ you up will be a snap of the fingers. Blink and you’ll miss it.”

Yusei rested his head on Durviir’s shoulders, and the older woman turned slightly to peer at Aki. “You comin’ to make sure he ain’t alone?” Aki nodded resolutely, and Durviir returned the gesture. “I can respect that. Little man here needs proper support.”

“You don’t count?” Aki asked. She meant it more rhetorically, but Durviir pursed her lips for a moment.

“Not always,” she said cryptically.

The rest of the elevator trip, neither psychic spoke, and in the silence the slightest grumbling noise sounded every so often. The first couple of times, Aki looked around to pinpoint where it was coming from – they were in an elevator after all – but when she met Durviir’s gaze again, the elder pointedly looked down at Yusei. So, it solved the question of the source, but raised several others. Typical.

Durviir was even faster when the elevator opened up to the underground labs, but Aki didn’t fault her – as far as she knew, there were two lives on the line. Wait too long and Harald wouldn’t be worth saving, and that in turn would destroy Yusei. The dull, cold grey colors of the labs always made Aki so uneasy; it was beyond her how anyone could spend very long down here, but Durviir was easily the strangest person she knew. The elder psychic stopped short of a pair of heavy, metal double doors, and Aki rushed to push them open. The room she revealed made her breath catch.

It was a massive room with six metal tables, three on either side of the doors. Beside each table was a smaller one, holding a variety of medical instruments. Along the walls were counters with heavy instruments and tools; saws, drills, suctions, bolt cutters. Above them were cabinets, their glass doors revealing all sorts of protective gear. There were giant glass refrigerator-like things lit up from the inside, displaying vials, bottles, bags of fluids, and syringes.

Every table, and every tool, was stained with red.

Every fiber of Aki’s being screamed at her to get out, that this room was a place of committed atrocities, but she stood her ground against her fear. Yusei needed her now more than ever, and she wasn’t going to run out on him because she was afraid of events that she wasn’t present for.

Durviir laid Yusei on his side on one of the tables and three monsters faded into reality – one was a decent-size, six-winged dragon seemingly made of solid gold. The other looked like a fairy with see-through wings, blue hair, white dress, and a flower staff with a candle in the hooked part. The final was a thin, long, orange centipede creature than wound itself around Durviir’s body.

The pink-haired woman nodded to herself. “A’ight, here we go. Canadia here,” she motioned to the centipede thing, “will be the one puttin’ you under. Rosemary will make sure things go how they should.” The fairy in white nodded and gripped its staff tighter. “Prime Material will be on standby to heal if things go awry, and will heal you completely after everythin’s said and done.” The gold dragon warbled, tinny and echoing. “With me so far?” Yusei nodded. “Okay, good. No time to waste.”

Canadia crawled from Durviir and coiled some of its winding body around Yusei’s neck and shoulders. From the four on its head to the line above its many legs, green dots lit up. Yusei jolted, but Durviir shushed him, and then his eyes slipped closed and his body went limp. Rosemary stood at the head of the table, and her candle began to exude some sort of glittery smoke; it wafted down to Yusei, presumably being absorbed. Prime Material sat on the side of the table opposite Durviir, its red eyes glowing.

Durviir slipped on a pair of gloves and picked up a bottle of orange gel, which she spread thinly in a line down the uneven curve of Yusei’s stomach. Aki’s brows knit together as she watched, unsure of what Durviir was doing, but it clicked when the older woman took up a scalpel. “You’re going to cut him open?!” Aki exclaimed.

“…Yeah,” Durviir deadpanned. “The way I see it, if little man here could have spit Harald back out, he would have, or at least would’ve started to. If he can’t do that, cuttin’ him open’s the best and fastest way to solve all this.” She gave Aki a glance out of the corner of her eye. “You sure you wanna see this, little lady?”

Aki swallowed thickly, then moved to stand between the fairy and the dragon. Durviir returned her gaze to her task, and even if she couldn’t see it, seeing Durviir’s arm slowly moving down Yusei’s body made Aki shiver. In quick movements, Durviir withdrew the blade, wiped it clean, then went back for a second long cut. This time, she placed the scalpel down entirely and lifted the flesh.

Aki couldn’t bear to keep watching; she closed her eyes and covered her ears. She didn’t understand why this was bothering her so much. She had tossed people around like ragdolls. She had seen gory horror movies, seen news videos about horrific injuries. But somehow, seeing something like that happening right in front of her was too much. Maybe it was because it was happening to Yusei? She cared about Yusei, so maybe that was a factor. No one liked seeing those they cared about getting hurt.

Something hard tapped Aki’s shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and the dragon was staring her down. As the dragon turned its angular head to the scene before it, Aki followed. She lowered her hands.

Shivering and soaked, Harald stood in Durviir’s grasp as she made sure he could stand on his own. “Fuck’s sake,” Durviir growled. “I leave for fifteen goddamn minutes and everything goes to shit.” When Harald proved steady, Durviir pushed him to the doors. “Go get cleaned up, and grab a notepad to write on – we’ve got things to get sorted.” The silver-haired man just mutely nodded and staggered into the hall.

On Durviir’s shoulder, another monster appeared – a chubby pale peach dragon that cooed at her. “Go watch him,” she said softly. The dragon cooed again and fell to the floor to follow. Aki looked down at Yusei. He was still sleeping peacefully, but her eyes could hardly move past his shoulders. When she managed it, she wished she didn’t. With its prisoner gone, the flesh of Yusei’s abdomen was sagged from the stretching, but it was _moving_. It moved in ripples, reeling itself back into its previous shape.

Aki gagged – flesh can’t do that. Flesh should not do that. Why was Yusei’s doing that?

Durviir, on the other hand, was apparently content to watch, her brows raised in curiosity. She reached and pressed at the skin, moving her hand up and down experimentally. Aki couldn’t see what she was doing or how Yusei’s body was responding and quite frankly she didn’t care to. “Well then,” Durviir murmured. “That’s interestin’.” She looked up at Prime Material Dragon. “Guess you’re not getting’ to do much – little man’s healin’ just fine on his own.”

Aki stood a little straighter when the elder turned her gaze onto her. “You should stay here with him. He’ll probably be feelin’ this for a while, and I got shit to do right now.” Aki nodded. Durviir gave Yusei one last long look, then turned on her heel and left the room.

Laying face down in the shower fully clothed was not a productive use of any time period, let alone ten minutes, but Harald did it anyways. The lack of outward panicking had been misleading – apparently he had heavily internalized it and was now suffering the consequences. Perhaps that was for the best; even minor struggling had resulted in a brush with suffocation. Now he was struggling to breathe properly, even when he forced himself to see sense and stand up.

Viscora came in after Harald was in the midst of a hunt for something to speak with. After five minutes of watching him search, she pulled out her tablet and handed it to him. Harald was a little miffed she had just let him look but that look on her face kept him from speaking up on it.

“ _So we’re confident Divine has something to do with this,_ ” Harald wrote.

“Oh, without a doubt,” Viscora said. “This is right up his alley. Plantin’ control phrases in someone’s mind through their dreams is somethin’ he’s perfectly capable of, and Yusei’s no psychic so there’s no natural resilience.”

“ _Are you planning to just confront him?_ ”

Viscora shook her head. “Nah, not after this stunt. This wasn’t just him testin’ his control over Yusei. He went after _you_ and probably thought I wouldn’t do nothin’ ‘cause it’s Yusei.”

“ _Then what are you going to do?_ ”

The elder psychic curled her lip, baring her sharpened teeth. “Remind him why Goodwin hasn’t fucked with us yet.” With a flourish, Viscora turned and left the room, forcing Harald into a jog to keep up. “If he wants to play bitch games, he’ll win bitch prizes, like my boot in his ass.”

So this was the true nature of the relationship between Viscora and Divine. In return for work space and a flow of test subjects, Viscora kept the Director of Neo Domino City at bay. That certainly explained Goodwin’s profound and perplexing hesitancy to squash Divine’s growing uprising. Harald wondered if Viscora would revoke that protection over this, if she was even able to.

Within the confines of the elevator, the elder woman’s seething became more palpable. Frost crept along any and all pieces of metal, her every huffed breath was a brief tongue of flame, tiny arches of electricity danced around her braided hair. The air itself was oppressive like a hot, humid summer day. Harald wasn’t sure if this was a subconscious threat display, or if she was actually so angry that her powers were exceeding her control. Even the shadows seemed to cower, and within reflective surfaces, the ghosts of her monsters writhed and snarled silently.

The walk from the elevator to Divine’s office was almost painfully quick, but Viscora paused in front of his door to smooth her braid and level her breathing before letting herself and Harald in. The master psychic was present, speaking with Virgil about something that Viscora had neither the time or patience for.

“Dr. Absentia,” Viscora said loudly, “if you would be so kind as to give us a minute.” The doctor in question whirled around, glanced between the older psychics nervously, and promptly fled the room. Virgil was always flighty around Viscora.

The pink-haired woman approached Divine with a sauntering gait that distinctly reminded Harald of a leopard; purposeful movements of grace and strength. To his credit, Divine was instantly tense as she drew close. “You ain’t slick, bitch,” Viscora said, her voice soft but dripping with venom and power.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Divine said carefully.

It was a blur of color, but Viscora shoved the other psychic into the wall and pinned his left arm to it with a foot. “You don’t?” Viscora asked, mock surprised. “Well, let me jog your memory, hmm?”

The muscles of her leg flexed as she applied pressure, and Divine’s elbow shattered. He shrieked and flailed, desperately trying to dislodge Viscora’s boot, but she held firm with a statue-like stillness. Red flames ignited around Divine, but a wave of Viscora’s frost-covered hand froze them solid, and when she clenched her fist, they shattered into nothing.

When Divine’s pitiful cries quieted to furious whimpers, Viscora spoke again. “Have you figured out where you went wrong yet?” she taunted. When she didn’t get an answer, she twisted her boot, getting another howl of pain.

“Why do you care?!” Divine finally yelled at her. Viscora didn’t even blink at him. “You’re sadistic, merciless, brutal – why are you so bothered? Isn’t everyone expendable to you?”

Harald glanced to his friend, his heartbeat picking up as the silence stretched on. Finally, Viscora replied, “No. Not everyone.” She leaned a little more on her propped up leg, and Divine groaned at the added pressure. “You should have known I wouldn’t stand idly by while Harald was fucked with. That was a part of our terms.” Harald stared at her – she had bargained for his safety? “You also should have known better than to use Yusei on someone he clearly had no intention of harmin’. The boy ain’t like us.”

Viscora leaned back again. “You’re doin’ a fine job of preemptively burnin’ bridges, dumbass. At this point, it’s a goddamn wonder how Goodwin thinks you’re any sort of threat.” Divine didn’t reply, so Viscora shrugged. “At any rate, you’ve got two strikes on your record now. One more and you’re out.”

“And what does that entail?” Divine hissed.

She was quick, but the aftermath seemed to play in slow motion. In a smooth, powerful swing of her leg, she tore Divine’s arm in half, sending his hand and forearm flying past Harald and smacking into the door. For several seconds, as Viscora lowered her foot back to the ground and blood began to gush from the new wound, no one really reacted.

When the reality set in, Divine screamed again, tucking his arm close to apply pressure. The noise brought Harald out of whatever trance he was in, and he felt mildly sick. When he met Viscora’s eyes, they were cold and flat in a way he’d never seen before. As his friend left Divine to his pain, she spun him around and led him away by his shoulders.

“Don’t pay him any mind now,” Viscora murmured, her voice still steely and clipped. “If he learns, he learns. If he doesn’t, then I’ll handle it.” Harald longed for his voice back – his hands were shaking far too much to type on the tablet. He nodded mutely instead, and tried to ignore the terrible feeling crawling up his spine.


	15. Emotions Are Fickle Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding time for some characters, and a new POV.

Harald stared listlessly at the ceiling – sleep was elusive tonight. In addition to the evening’s series of unfortunate and disturbing events, Viscora was letting off steam outside by stirring up a vicious thunderstorm. Lightning flashed brilliantly through the pitch black skies while thunder cracked and roared loud enough to rattle the windows. As much as he would like to go to the roof and tell her to quit, she needed the stress relief. Forcing her to withhold her powers when her emotions were running high was asking for something important to get destroyed; that was Psychic Powers 101. So he had to settle for shoving his face into a pillow and covering his ears.

_Knockknockknock_.

Harald blinked into the darkness, his eyes settling on the vague dark shape of his door. The noise sounded again, three knocks in quick succession. That didn’t sound like anyone he knew of. Divine was slow and deliberate; Viscora knocked five to six times with a slight beat.

_Knockknockknock_.

“Come in,” Harald rasped, wincing at the grating feeling still settled in his throat. His door inched open, and the light from beyond his room was nearly blinding for a moment. Yusei stood just behind the door, his eyes downcast but flicking up to Harald’s face once every couple of seconds. Neither spoke for an awkward amount of time. He knew Yusei hadn’t meant for… _that…_ to happen, but the knowledge did little to quell the icy fear that grabbed at his heart.

Yusei fidgeted uneasily. “Th...this is going…going to sound strange…” Harald raised a brow – was Yusei afraid? “I…I was…wondering if-” Lightning flashed and not a half second later, thunder roared almost painfully loud. Yusei nearly shrieked at the display and flew into the room, diving into Harald’s bed and curling up next to him.

The silver-haired psychic just stared down at the teen, silent and frozen. Yusei trembled and shook like a loose leaf; every peal of thunder drawing out whimpered cries. This boy had watched psychic duelists spar, stood beside Viscora without a trace of fright, _he could and did eat people alive_ , but a thunderstorm was where his mind drew the line?

Harald had a man-eating apex predator clinging to him like a frightened child because of a storm. Gods above, what was his life? Seeing terrible future events, dealing with Divine’s outlandish machinations, finding his place among Brave and Dragan, _Viscora_ in her entirety, and now he had Yusei to deal with somehow.

There was another knock on the door, again different from the older psychics. It was a polite sound, like the person was only knocking as loud as they had to. The door opened without Harald’s input, and Aki slipped in. She gazed on the scene, but Harald could tell her attention was focused on Yusei. Her eyes flickered to his. Harald sighed through his nose, but shoved himself over towards the wall. Yusei tensed, but followed him when another crack of thunder sounded. Aki took up the now free space on the bed, pressing up to Yusei’s back and draping an arm around his chest.

Seeing that made Harald’s heart hurt – these two…alone in the world and dealt terrible hands… It hadn’t truly struck him until seeing Aki try to comfort Yusei just how alone they really were. Sure Aki was in a place for psychics, but all she really had in the Movement was Divine, and he was grooming her to be a weapon of mass destruction, so he didn’t count as far as Harald was concerned. Yusei was even more alone than Aki was; the boy had a good heart, but he was forced to take such a dark path.

Harald couldn’t understand that loneliness, he knew he couldn’t – Viscora had been there for him since before his powers first manifested. For all her “eccentricities”, Viscora had been his anchor, his mentor. In the span of a decade, she had become his family more than his biological family ever was. She helped him find himself in the chaos of growing up. She helped him control his own psychic powers. She helped him cope through a variety of visions. The years he had spent by himself were hardly memories now; the years he recalled the best were the ones after Viscora had happened upon him.

Aki and Yusei needed someone to be their guide, their steady ground, and from what Harald could tell, Viscora might not be able to step up for them. Fighting off Divine alone was tedious, but if she was battling Divine _and_ Goodwin at once? There was no way she could dedicate the time to Aki and Yusei that they needed. That left Harald as the only person in any position to help them, and helping people was his goal in life.

As the thunder began to grow quieter and the rain stopped pounding the glass of the window, Harald watched Yusei and Aki’s breathing slow and level out. It had been a show of great trust for Yusei to seek him out for a sense of security, and another show of it from both Yusei and Aki to fall asleep in front of him. Harald wanted to be worthy of that trust, wanted to help these two off the paths they were on. Was it a pipe dream? Perhaps, but someone had to try.

Jack frowned at the thunder as it rolled heavy across the sky. Somehow, the weather had taken a sudden, sharp turn for the worse, from a simple rain shower to a horrendous thunderstorm. Something about it made Jack so uneasy, a kind of uneasy he remembered feeling when he was talking with that Durviir woman.

At any rate, he wasn’t leaving the twins’ penthouse anytime soon – the weather was a major factor, but the more important reason was the fact that he had the twins clinging to his sides. As it would seem, neither Rua or Ruka were very fond of thunderstorms, and this brutal one was enough to make them seek Jack for some sense of safety and comfort. Having them cling to him gave Jack an idea of how much strength Rua had left, which wasn't much. Ruka was a lot weaker than Jack had expected, and Rua was about half her strength.

In fact, it seemed that Rua wasn’t the only one with a strange condition. Ruka could hardly handle any physical activity without getting rather winded, once even going so far as to clutch at her chest as she gasped for air. And that was just in the short time Jack had been there to observe, and seeing it only made his blood run hotter. Two children with serious physical conditions being left to fend for themselves? What the hell was their parents’ reasoning? For their sake, it had better be some damn good logic, because Jack was angry enough on the twins’ behalf to beat their parents senseless. But, for one of the very few times in his life, Jack kept his temper under wraps. These two needed calm and security, not rage and aggression.

On another front, he needed to keep his wits about him. Goodwin could, and likely would, use the twins against him if Jack wasn’t careful. There was also Durviir, who apparently had Yusei safe and sound but had easily picked up Rua’s scent. She had also known who Jack was, had known he was under Goodwin’s watch. Frankly, Jack wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be more afraid of at this point – Goodwin, Durviir, or whoever this Divine person was that he still had yet to meet.

Jack sighed silently to himself. He’d gotten so distracted from his goal – getting to Yusei and getting out of the city – and how he was questioning if that had been a good idea to begin with. He certainly couldn’t do it now, not if that plan meant he had to leave the twins on their own again. Yusei probably wouldn’t have agreed to it anyways; he’d want to find Crow at least, and knowing Yusei, he’d likely have found at least one new friend he wouldn’t want to leave behind.

His thoughts went back to Durviir. She had Archfiend, and she had access to Yusei; was she someone to be trusted? Jack couldn’t imagine someone Yusei didn’t trust being able to get a hold of his deck, let alone the one card in that deck that wasn’t his. She seemed like someone no one wanted to cross, so having her on their side could be enough to make Goodwin reconsider whatever plan he had.

Lightning flashed blindingly outside, and the crack of thunder to follow made everything shake. At Jack’s sides, both twins tried to squirm even closer, and Jack put his arms around them to help soothe their fears. It seemed to work, and the twins relaxed under his guard. He let himself relax, his eyes fluttering closed.

Everything had fallen apart right before his eyes.

If Crow had known that would be the last he’d seen of any of his team, god, he’d have done _everything_ differently. His last words to Kiryu and Yusei had been words he didn’t mean, spat out in a tone he faked, and for what? For Kiryu to get hauled away by Security anyway and held in the Facility for likely the rest of his life? For Yusei to run into the night and drop off the face of the earth? For Crow himself to take a bullet to the leg and almost bleed to death?

He should never have put any faith in Jack. Every idea from Jack was half-baked at best; it was never going to go the way they wanted it to and Crow was a total idiot for thinking it’d be fine. The blonde asshole had vanished much like Yusei had, and Crow was starting to wonder if that had been Jack’s plan the whole time. Even from way back when they were kids, any time Jack felt overwhelmed he’d take off. Run away from whatever was bothering him until he could hide the fact he was bothered, the thing bothering him went away, or when someone cornered him about it.

Just the possibility of that being the real plan made Crow’s blood boil – they’d promised to keep Yusei alive. They’d all known what that entailed, even if they weren’t okay with any of it. They’d bound themselves by their word, and Jack broke it. Now Crow walked with a limp, Kiryu was imprisoned, and Yusei was likely dying of starvation _again_ , if he wasn’t outright dead.

A thought kept circling Crow’s mind; a terrible, vile thought that gnawed away at him. A cry for vengeance, to track Jack down and make him pay for what he’d done. At first, Crow just shoved it away – not only was it not possible, but what would vengeance solve? It wouldn’t fix his leg, wouldn’t get Kiryu out of prison, it wouldn’t bring Yusei back. But no matter how many times he banished it, it wormed its way back in. Every time it came back, it was harder and harder to get rid of until it was a permanent fixture in his mind.

It was like a mental leech, feeding off his feelings of anger, pain, betrayal, and helplessness. At some point, it stopped being a nagging feeling and started being a voice. It was whispering dark things into his ears, different ways to hurt Jack once he caught up with the blonde – carve him open to take the organs, different ways to break different bones, where on his body to cut to make him bleed to death.

Then, those whispered ideas were joined with the terrifying feeling of something cold and slimy writhing in his body, slithering under his skin and through his muscles, sliding around in his guts. Crow wondered if this meant he was going insane; such violent thoughts and now some sort of textile hallucination? Surely that was him going insane, it had to be. He would rather just be going insane.

Because the alternative was that there _was_ something actually crawling around inside him. That there was some sort of being reading his mind, seeing into his memories, projecting and planting terrible thoughts into his consciousness. If it was messing with his consciousness, what was it doing to his subconsciousness? What if it could mess with his dreams to subtly plant things into him?

Was there only one?

There was a whole lot of unknowns, and trying to think about it all always gave Crow a migraine. Sometimes, he wondered if he was a ticking time bomb – that one day, all the violent thoughts and negative emotions would overwhelm him and he’d lose control of himself. He was getting snappier and more irritable by the day, maybe by the hour; what if he finally broke and hurt an innocent?

Other times, he wondered if this was what Yusei felt, a slow descent into a darkness he feared and hated but couldn’t do anything about. A simmering terror in the back of the mind that the ones he cared for the most would become his victims. God, thinking about Yusei made Crow feel awful, and now there was no real way to rectify what he’d done. Well, there was that whole vengeance scheme, but Jack had vanished from Satellite. So there was no way that voice’s insistence would come to do anything other than drive Crow insane.

…Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a lot longer to get out than i'd hoped :{ but it's here!


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